Best PlacesGrant County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Grant 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.
Grant County ranks 393rd 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 Grant 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.
Grant County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Grant County ranks high
- Short commute13.7 minutes each way, better than 98% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 88% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 129 pleasant days a year, better than 81% of counties
Where Grant County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 36% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 36% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Grant County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Grant County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,907, 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 Grant County's effective rate of 0.92%, 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 Grant County
Grant County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Grant County.
Who works in Grant County, and how
Work in Grant County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Grant County
Grant County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of counties and more parkland per resident than 99% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Grant County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Grant County growing, and who is moving in?
Grant County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Big Stone County, MN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Grant County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Grant County, month by month
Grant County sees roughly 129 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 23, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23° | 15° | 7° |
| April | 54° | 42° | 34° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 58° | 47° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Grant County
The nearest airport, Watertown Regional, is about 32 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 Grant County
Schools across Grant County average a B, better than 77% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Big Stone City Elementary - 01A+ · 75% proficient
- Milbank Elementary - 03A · 70% proficient
- Madison-marietta-nassau ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Milbank Middle School - 02B+ · 50% proficient
- Florence Middle School - 03B− · 40% proficient
- Waubay Middle School - 03D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Waubay High School - 01A · 75% proficient
- Dawson-boyd SecondaryB− · 43% proficient
- Milbank High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Grant County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Grant 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 Grant County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Grant County
Is Grant County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Grant County ranks 393rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, low taxes, and a stable housing market, 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 Grant County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $200,353. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $73,907 median income, cost of living beats 81% of counties.
Is Grant County safe?
Yes, Grant County is safer than 77% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $300 per resident a year.
Compare Grant County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Grant County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Grant 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.
Grant County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Grant County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Grant County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Grant County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Grant County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Grant 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.