Best PlacesJerauld County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Jerauld County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Jerauld County ranks 887th 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 Jerauld 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.
Jerauld County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Jerauld County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of counties
- Short commute15.8 minutes each way, better than 94% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of counties
Where Jerauld County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 26% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 27% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Jerauld County
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Jerauld County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,175, 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 Jerauld County's effective rate of 0.83%, 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 Jerauld County
Jerauld 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 Jerauld County.
Who works in Jerauld County, and how
Work in Jerauld County centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Jerauld County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Jerauld County.
Is Jerauld County growing, and who is moving in?
Jerauld County has lost about 17% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sanborn County, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Jerauld County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Jerauld County, month by month
Jerauld County sees roughly 122 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 7. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 17° | 7° |
| April | 60° | 45° | 32° |
| July | 88° | 74° | 61° |
| October | 64° | 48° | 36° |
Flying in and out of Jerauld County
The nearest airport, Watertown Regional, is about 89 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 235 miles away.
The best schools in and around Jerauld County
Schools across Jerauld County average a C, better than 31% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hendricks ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Wessington Springs Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
- Spring Valley Colony Elementary - 05D+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kimball Middle School - 04B+ · 50% proficient
- Huron Middle School - 02C− · 30% proficient
- Wessington Springs Jr. High - 04F · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Wessington Springs High School Cyber School - 92A · 75% proficient
- Wessington Springs High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Huron High School - 01C− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Jerauld County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Jerauld 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 Jerauld County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Jerauld County
Is Jerauld County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Jerauld County ranks 887th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, health care access, and short commutes, 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 Jerauld County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $152,065. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $75,175 median income, cost of living beats 79% of counties.
Is Jerauld County safe?
Yes, Jerauld County is safer than 57% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $361 per resident a year.
Compare Jerauld County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Jerauld County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Jerauld 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.
Jerauld County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Jerauld County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Jerauld County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Jerauld County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Jerauld County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Jerauld 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.