Best PlacesDell Rapids, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dell Rapids, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dell Rapids ranks 3,297th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dell Rapids
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.
Dell Rapids' strengths and weaknesses
Where Dell Rapids ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 93% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 151 pleasant days a year, better than 93% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 91% of towns
Where Dell Rapids ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 17% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 18% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 21% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dell Rapids
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dell Rapids home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $99,798, 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 Dell Rapids' 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 Dell Rapids
Dell Rapids's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dell Rapids.
Who works in Dell Rapids, and how
Work in Dell Rapids centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Dell Rapids
Dell Rapids has more parkland per resident than 98% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Dell Rapids and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Dell Rapids, month by month
Dell Rapids sees roughly 151 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 17° | 9° |
| April | 58° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 61° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Dell Rapids
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 179 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dell Rapids
Schools across Dell Rapids average a B+, better than 76% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Baltic Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
- Tri-valley Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
- Garretson Elementary - 02D · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dell Rapids Middle School - 03A− · 55% proficient
- Tri-valley Intermediate School - 03B · 45% proficient
- Baltic Middle School - 03B− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Baltic High School - 01A− · 60% proficient
- Dell Rapids High School - 01B+ · 55% proficient
- Tri-valley High School - 01B · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dell Rapids school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dell Rapids 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 Dell Rapids against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dell Rapids
Is Dell Rapids a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dell Rapids ranks 3,297th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, biking, and the weather, and lowest on noise and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dell Rapids expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $308,693. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $99,798 median income, cost of living beats 91% of towns.
Is Dell Rapids safe?
Yes, Dell Rapids is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $307 per resident a year.
Compare Dell Rapids with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dell Rapids. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dell Rapids 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.
Dell Rapids detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dell Rapids: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dell Rapids: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dell Rapids: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dell Rapids: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dell Rapids 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.