Best PlacesBrown County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Brown 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.
Brown County ranks 690th 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 Brown 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.
Brown County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Brown County ranks high
- Short commute13.8 minutes each way, better than 97% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of counties
- BikingBetter than 93% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of counties
Where Brown County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 18% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 34% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Brown County
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Brown County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,453, 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 Brown 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 Brown County
Brown County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Brown County.
Who works in Brown County, and how
Work in Brown County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Brown County
Brown County has more late-night spots per resident than 91% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Brown County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Brown County growing, and who is moving in?
Brown County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Minneapolis, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Brown County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Brown County, month by month
Brown County sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 15° | 5° |
| April | 58° | 43° | 29° |
| July | 88° | 73° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 47° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Brown County
The nearest airport, Aberdeen Regional, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 258 miles away.
The best schools in and around Brown County
Schools across Brown County average a C+, better than 46% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- C C Lee Elementary - 05A · 70% proficient
- Warner Elementary - 02A− · 60% proficient
- Groton Area Elementary - 02A− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Frederick Jr. High - 03A+ · 75% proficient
- Langford Area Middle School - 03A+ · 75% proficient
- Groton Area Middle School - 04B+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Northwestern High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Warner High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Groton Area High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Brown County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Brown 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 Brown County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Brown County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 77% of counties and 7% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 71% of counties and health care access beats 75%.
Common questions about living in Brown County
Is Brown County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Brown County ranks 690th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, low taxes, and clean air, 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 Brown County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $225,141. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $75,453 median income, cost of living beats 77% of counties.
Is Brown County safe?
Brown County is safer than 34% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $427 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Brown County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 28 with lows near 5. That works out to about 115 pleasant days a year, more than 71% of counties.
Is Brown County good for families?
Schools beat 46% of counties, crime safety beats 34%, and childcare runs $702 a month.
Compare Brown County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Brown County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Brown 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.
Brown County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Brown County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Brown County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Brown County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Brown County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Brown 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.