Best PlacesHumboldt, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Humboldt, 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.
Humboldt ranks 4,683rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Humboldt
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.
Humboldt's strengths and weaknesses
Where Humboldt ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
Where Humboldt ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 18% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 27% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 43% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Humboldt
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Humboldt home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $106,129, 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 Humboldt's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 Humboldt
Humboldt runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Humboldt.
Who works in Humboldt, and how
Work in Humboldt centers on health care & social and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Humboldt
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Humboldt.
What the weather is like in Humboldt, month by month
Humboldt sees roughly 110 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 19° | 9° |
| April | 62° | 47° | 34° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 62° |
| October | 65° | 50° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Humboldt
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 173 miles away.
The best schools in and around Humboldt
Schools across Humboldt average a B, better than 65% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Parker Elementary - 02B · 50% proficient
- West Central Humboldt Elementary - 02B · 45% proficient
- Tri-valley Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tri-valley Intermediate School - 03B · 45% proficient
- West Central Middle School - 04C · 35% proficient
- Montrose Middle School - 03D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Montrose High School - 01A+ · 90% proficient
- Parker High School - 01A− · 60% proficient
- West Central High School - 01B · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Humboldt school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Humboldt 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 Humboldt against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Humboldt
Is Humboldt a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Humboldt ranks 4,683rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, few empty homes, and what local pay buys, and lowest on tree cover 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 Humboldt expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $341,401. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $106,129 median income, cost of living beats 92% of towns.
Is Humboldt safe?
Yes, Humboldt is safer than 78% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $253 per resident a year.
Compare Humboldt with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Humboldt. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Humboldt 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.
Humboldt detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Humboldt: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Humboldt: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Humboldt: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Humboldt: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Humboldt 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.