Best PlacesDeuel County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Deuel County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Deuel County ranks 624th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Deuel 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.
Deuel County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Deuel County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 88% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 85% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 84% of counties
Where Deuel County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 28% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 29% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 34% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Deuel County
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Deuel County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,683, 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 Deuel County's effective rate of 0.76%, 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 Deuel County
Deuel County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Deuel County.
Who works in Deuel County, and how
Work in Deuel County centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Deuel County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Deuel County.
Is Deuel County growing, and who is moving in?
Deuel County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Codington County, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Deuel County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Deuel County, month by month
Deuel County sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 27, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 27° | 19° | 11° |
| April | 57° | 44° | 35° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 61° | 49° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Deuel County
The nearest airport, Watertown Regional, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 169 miles away.
The best schools in and around Deuel County
Schools across Deuel County average a B−, better than 69% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Canby ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Clear Lake Elementary - 02A− · 60% proficient
- Madison-marietta-nassau ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Deubrook Jr. High - 02A+ · 75% proficient
- Watertown Middle School - 02B+ · 48% proficient
- Estelline Middle School - 03B− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Watertown High School - 01B · 50% proficient
- Dawson-boyd SecondaryB− · 43% proficient
- Deuel High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Deuel County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Deuel 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 Deuel County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Deuel County
Is Deuel County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Deuel County ranks 624th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, low crime, and state infrastructure, 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 Deuel County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $207,948. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $82,683 median income, cost of living beats 81% of counties.
Is Deuel County safe?
Yes, Deuel County is safer than 89% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $287 per resident a year.
Compare Deuel County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Deuel County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Deuel 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.
Deuel County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Deuel County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Deuel County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Deuel County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Deuel County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Deuel 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.