Best PlacesDakota County, NE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dakota 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.
Dakota County ranks 896th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dakota 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.
Dakota County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dakota County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 98% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of counties
- Short commute13.9 minutes each way, better than 97% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of counties
- BikingBetter than 95% of counties
Where Dakota County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 3% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 3% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 9% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,085 a month, better than only 12% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dakota County
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dakota County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,887, 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 Dakota County's effective rate of 1.33%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dakota County
Dakota County runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dakota County.
Who works in Dakota County, and how
Work in Dakota County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Dakota County
Dakota County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 96% of counties and more parkland per resident than 92% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Dakota County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Dakota County growing, and who is moving in?
Dakota County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sioux Falls, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dakota County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dakota County, month by month
Dakota County sees roughly 93 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 22° | 12° |
| April | 65° | 49° | 35° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 62° |
| October | 67° | 51° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Dakota County
The nearest airport, Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Field, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dakota County
Schools across Dakota County average a C+, better than 56% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Emerson-hubbard Elementary SchA · 65% proficient
- Ponca Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Homer Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sergeant Bluff-luton Middle SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- West Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- South Sioux City Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Ponca High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- Allen High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Emerson-hubbard High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dakota County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dakota 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 Dakota County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Dakota County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Dakota County
Is Dakota County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dakota County ranks 896th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, cell coverage, and short commutes, and lowest on noise and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dakota County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $182,966. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $72,887 median income, cost of living beats 62% of counties.
Is Dakota County safe?
Dakota County is safer than 54% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $318 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dakota County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 34 with lows near 12. That works out to about 93 pleasant days a year, more than 55% of counties.
Is Dakota County good for families?
Schools beat 56% of counties, crime safety beats 54%, and childcare runs $1,085 a month.
Compare Dakota County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dakota County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dakota 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.
Dakota County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dakota County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dakota County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dakota County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dakota County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dakota 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.