Best PlacesClay County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Clay County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Clay County ranks 1,569th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Clay 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.
Clay County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clay County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 95% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of counties
Where Clay County ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 19% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Clay County
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clay County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,357, 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 Clay County's effective rate of 1.21%, 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 Clay County
Clay 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 Clay County.
Who works in Clay County, and how
Work in Clay County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Clay County
Clay County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 96% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Clay County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Clay County growing, and who is moving in?
Clay County has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sioux Falls, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Clay County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Clay County, month by month
Clay County sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 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 | 61° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Clay County
The nearest airport, Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Field, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 117 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clay County
Schools across Clay County average a C+, better than 59% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Jolley Elementary - 04B · 45% proficient
- Centerville Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
- Beresford Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Sioux Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Beresford Middle School - 03B− · 40% proficient
- Vermillion Middle School - 02D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Vermillion High School - 01B+ · 55% proficient
- Beresford High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Irene - Wakonda High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clay County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clay 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 Clay County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Clay County
Is Clay County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clay County ranks 1,569th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, population health, and cell coverage, and lowest on an overheated housing market and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clay County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $222,704. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $62,357 median income, cost of living beats 23% of counties.
Is Clay County safe?
Clay County is safer than 19% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $522 per resident a year.
Compare Clay County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clay County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clay 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.
Clay County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clay County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clay County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clay County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clay County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clay 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.