Best PlacesDavison County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Davison 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.
Davison County ranks 1,111th 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 Davison 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.
Davison County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Davison County ranks high
- Short commute14.0 minutes each way, better than 97% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 93% of counties
- BikingBetter than 92% of counties
Where Davison County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 15% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 21% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Davison County
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Davison County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,242, 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 Davison County's effective rate of 1.17%, 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 Davison County
Davison 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 Davison County.
Who works in Davison County, and how
Work in Davison 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 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Davison County
Davison County has more parkland per resident than 88% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Davison County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Davison County growing, and who is moving in?
Davison County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Yankton County, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Davison County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Davison County, month by month
Davison County sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 60° | 46° | 36° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 63° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Davison County
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 66 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 199 miles away.
The best schools in and around Davison County
Schools across Davison County average a C, better than 34% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- West Lyon Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Mount Vernon Elementary - 02A+ · 75% proficient
- Sanborn Central Elementary - 06A+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Lyon Junior High SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Sanborn Central Middle School - 02A+ · 75% proficient
- Mitchell Middle School - 02C− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- West Lyon High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Sanborn Central High School - 01A · 75% proficient
- Mount Vernon High School- 01A− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Davison County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Davison 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 Davison County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Davison County
Is Davison County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Davison County ranks 1,111th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, low taxes, and walkability, and lowest on distance from a big city and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Davison County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $231,433. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $68,242 median income, cost of living beats 49% of counties.
Is Davison County safe?
Yes, Davison County is safer than 56% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $373 per resident a year.
Compare Davison County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Davison County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Davison 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.
Davison County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Davison County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Davison County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Davison County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Davison County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Davison 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.