Best PlacesChamberlain, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Chamberlain, 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.
Chamberlain ranks 11,260th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Chamberlain
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.
Chamberlain's strengths and weaknesses
Where Chamberlain ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute14.9 minutes each way, better than 97% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of towns
Where Chamberlain ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 14% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 23% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 26% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 33% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Chamberlain
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chamberlain home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,051, 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 Chamberlain's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 Chamberlain
Chamberlain runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Chamberlain.
Who works in Chamberlain, and how
Work in Chamberlain centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Chamberlain
Chamberlain has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Chamberlain and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Chamberlain, month by month
Chamberlain sees roughly 125 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 Chamberlain
The nearest airport, Pierre Regional, is about 63 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 245 miles away.
The best schools in and around Chamberlain
Schools across Chamberlain average a C−, better than 23% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hendricks ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Chamberlain Elementary - 03C− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kimball Middle School - 04B+ · 50% proficient
- Chamberlain Jr. High - 02D · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Hendricks Senior HighA · 75% proficient
- Chamberlain High School - 01C− · 30% proficient
- Kimball High School - 01D+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chamberlain school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chamberlain 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 Chamberlain against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Chamberlain
Is Chamberlain a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chamberlain ranks 11,260th of 50,333 towns. 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 Chamberlain expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $241,291. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $80,051 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is Chamberlain safe?
Chamberlain is safer than 41% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $411 per resident a year.
Compare Chamberlain with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chamberlain. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chamberlain 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.
Chamberlain detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chamberlain: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chamberlain: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chamberlain: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chamberlain: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chamberlain 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.
- 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.