Best PlacesBrookings County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Brookings 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.
Brookings County ranks 367th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Brookings 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.
Brookings County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Brookings County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 97% of counties
- Short commute14.3 minutes each way, better than 97% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 95% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 94% of counties
Where Brookings County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 15% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 19% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Brookings County
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Brookings County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,463, 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 Brookings County's effective rate of 1.11%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Brookings County
Brookings County runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Brookings County.
Who works in Brookings County, and how
Work in Brookings County centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Brookings County
Brookings County has more parkland per resident than 72% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 96% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Brookings County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Brookings County growing, and who is moving in?
Brookings County has grown about 9% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sioux Falls, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Brookings County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Brookings County, month by month
Brookings County sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 8. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 16° | 8° |
| April | 55° | 43° | 33° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 58° | 47° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Brookings County
The nearest airport, Watertown Regional, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 180 miles away.
The best schools in and around Brookings County
Schools across Brookings County average a B, better than 74% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hendricks ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Camelot Intermediate - 06B · 48% proficient
- Arlington Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Deubrook Jr. High - 02A+ · 75% proficient
- Estelline Middle School - 03B− · 40% proficient
- George S. Mickelson Middle School - 02C · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Hendricks Senior HighA · 75% proficient
- Brookings High School - 01B+ · 53% proficient
- Sioux Valley High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Brookings County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Brookings 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 Brookings County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Brookings County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 81% of counties and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Brookings County
Is Brookings County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Brookings County ranks 367th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, population health, and short commutes, 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 Brookings County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $275,841. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $77,463 median income, cost of living beats 81% of counties.
Is Brookings County safe?
Yes, Brookings County is safer than 69% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $350 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Brookings County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 25 with lows near 8. That works out to about 128 pleasant days a year, more than 81% of counties.
Is Brookings County good for families?
Schools beat 74% of counties, crime safety beats 69%, and childcare runs $702 a month.
Compare Brookings County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Brookings County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Brookings 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.
Brookings County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Brookings County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Brookings County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Brookings County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Brookings County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Brookings 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.