Best PlacesBeadle County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Beadle County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Beadle County ranks 784th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Beadle County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Beadle County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Beadle County ranks high
- Short commute13.3 minutes each way, better than 98% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 88% of counties
Where Beadle County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 21% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 27% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 27% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Beadle County
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Beadle County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,822, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Beadle County's effective rate of 1.06%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Beadle County
Beadle County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Beadle County.
Who works in Beadle County, and how
Work in Beadle County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Beadle County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Beadle County.
Is Beadle County growing, and who is moving in?
Beadle County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from College Station, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Beadle County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Beadle County, month by month
Beadle County sees roughly 118 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 17° | 7° |
| April | 60° | 45° | 32° |
| July | 88° | 74° | 61° |
| October | 64° | 48° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Beadle County
The nearest airport, Watertown Regional, is about 65 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 242 miles away.
The best schools in and around Beadle County
Schools across Beadle County average a C, better than 39% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Iroquois Elementary - 04A+ · 75% proficient
- Miller Elementary - 02A− · 60% proficient
- Hendricks ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hitchcock-tulare Jr. High School - 02A+ · 75% proficient
- Huron Middle School - 02C− · 30% proficient
- Willow Lake Middle School - 03D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Hendricks Senior HighA · 75% proficient
- Hitchcock-tulare High School - 01A− · 60% proficient
- Wessington Springs High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Beadle County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Beadle County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Beadle County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Beadle County
Is Beadle County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Beadle County ranks 784th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, low taxes, and walkability, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Beadle County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $175,675. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $68,822 median income, cost of living beats 51% of counties.
Is Beadle County safe?
Yes, Beadle County is safer than 61% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $352 per resident a year.
Compare Beadle County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Beadle County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Beadle County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Beadle County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Beadle County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Beadle County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Beadle County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Beadle County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Beadle County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.