Best PlacesBrule County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Brule 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.
Brule County ranks 998th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Brule 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.
Brule County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Brule County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 97% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Short commute15.5 minutes each way, better than 94% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 88% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 85% of counties
Where Brule County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 29% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 30% of counties
- School gradeC, better than only 34% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Brule County
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Brule County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,143, 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 Brule County's effective rate of 0.83%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Brule County
Brule County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Brule County.
Who works in Brule County, and how
Work in Brule County centers on education and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Brule County
Brule County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Brule County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Brule County growing, and who is moving in?
Brule County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Brookings County, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Brule County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Brule County, month by month
Brule County sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 21° | 13° |
| April | 60° | 46° | 35° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 63° | 49° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Brule County
The nearest airport, Pierre Regional, is about 69 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 239 miles away.
The best schools in and around Brule County
Schools across Brule County average a C, better than 34% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- West Lyon Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Grass Ranch Colony Elementary - 13A+ · 75% proficient
- Cedar Grove Colony Elementary - 14A+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Lyon Junior High SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Kimball Middle School - 04B+ · 50% proficient
- Platte - Geddes Jr. High - 03B− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- West Lyon High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Wessington Springs High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Chamberlain High School - 01C− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Brule County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Brule 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 Brule County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Brule County
Is Brule County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Brule County ranks 998th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, low taxes, 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 Brule County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $236,965. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $75,143 median income, cost of living beats 60% of counties.
Is Brule County safe?
Brule County is safer than 38% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $429 per resident a year.
Compare Brule County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Brule County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Brule 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.
Brule County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Brule County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Brule County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Brule County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Brule County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Brule 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.