Best PlacesDewey County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dewey 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.
Dewey County ranks 2,500th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dewey 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.
Dewey County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dewey County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- QuietBetter than 91% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 88% of counties
Where Dewey County ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 5% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dewey County
A household needs to earn about $22,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dewey County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,196, 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 Dewey County's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dewey County
Dewey 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 Dewey County.
Who works in Dewey County, and how
Work in Dewey County centers on education and public administration. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Dewey County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dewey County.
Is Dewey County growing, and who is moving in?
Dewey County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Corson County, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dewey County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dewey County, month by month
Dewey County sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 20° | 11° |
| April | 58° | 42° | 30° |
| July | 90° | 74° | 59° |
| October | 62° | 46° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Dewey County
The nearest airport, Pierre Regional, is about 65 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 372 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dewey County
Schools across Dewey County average a C−, better than 32% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sundance ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Timber Lake Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
- Browns Valley ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Timber Lake Middle School - 03B− · 40% proficient
- Browns Valley MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
- Dupree Jr. High - 04F · 5% proficient
Top high schools
- Timber Lake High School - 01A− · 60% proficient
- Sundance Secondary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Dupree High School - 01F · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dewey County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dewey 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 Dewey County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Dewey County
Is Dewey County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dewey County ranks 2,500th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, low taxes, and quiet, and lowest on internet speeds and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dewey County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $84,800. The overall cost of living runs about 25% below the national average. Set against a $51,196 median income, cost of living beats 15% of counties.
Is Dewey County safe?
Dewey County is safer than 2% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $909 per resident a year.
Compare Dewey County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dewey County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dewey 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.
Dewey County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dewey County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dewey County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dewey County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dewey County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dewey 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.