Best PlacesHaakon County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Haakon 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.
Haakon County ranks 1,856th 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 Haakon 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.
Haakon County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Haakon County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- QuietBetter than 94% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 88% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 87% of counties
- Short commute19.0 minutes each way, better than 84% of counties
Where Haakon County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 7% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Haakon County
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Haakon County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,067, 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 Haakon County's effective rate of 0.74%, 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 Haakon County
Haakon County runs older than the country, 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 Haakon County.
Who works in Haakon County, and how
Work in Haakon County centers on agriculture & forestry and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Haakon County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Haakon County.
Is Haakon County growing, and who is moving in?
Haakon County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Kansas City, MO.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Haakon County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Haakon County, month by month
Haakon County sees roughly 129 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 22° | 11° |
| April | 63° | 45° | 30° |
| July | 94° | 76° | 59° |
| October | 65° | 48° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Haakon County
The nearest airport, Pierre Regional, is about 66 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 335 miles away.
The best schools in and around Haakon County
Schools across Haakon County average a B, better than 72% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sundance ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Philip Elementary - 02D+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newcastle Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Philip Jr. High - 03D · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Sundance Secondary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Newcastle High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Philip High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Haakon County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Haakon 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 Haakon County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Haakon County
Is Haakon County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Haakon County ranks 1,856th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, quiet, 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 Haakon County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $168,979. The overall cost of living runs about 13% above the national average. Set against a $67,067 median income, cost of living beats 7% of counties.
Is Haakon County safe?
Haakon County is safer than 14% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $574 per resident a year.
Compare Haakon County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Haakon County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Haakon 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.
Haakon County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Haakon County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Haakon County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Haakon County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Haakon County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Haakon 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.