Best PlacesJunius, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Junius, 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.
Junius ranks 9,806th 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 Junius
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.
Junius' strengths and weaknesses
Where Junius ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute14.8 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 126 pleasant days a year, better than 83% of towns
Where Junius ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Junius
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Junius home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,172, 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 Junius' effective rate of 0.89%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Junius
Junius's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Junius.
Who works in Junius, and how
Work in Junius centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Junius
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Junius.
What the weather is like in Junius, month by month
Junius sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 16° | 9° |
| April | 55° | 43° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 62° |
| October | 58° | 47° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Junius
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 199 miles away.
The best schools in and around Junius
Schools across Junius average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Madison Elementary - 07B+ · 55% proficient
- Oldham-ramona Elementary - 02D+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Madison Middle School - 02C · 35% proficient
- Oldham-ramona Jr. High - 03D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Madison High School - 01B− · 45% proficient
- Oldham-ramona High School - 01D+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Junius school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Junius 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 Junius against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Junius
Is Junius a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Junius ranks 9,806th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, short commutes, and state infrastructure, and lowest on tree cover and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Junius expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $188,900. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $91,172 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is Junius safe?
Junius is safer than 52% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $366 per resident a year.
Compare Junius with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Junius. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Junius 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.
Junius detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Junius: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Junius: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Junius: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Junius: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Junius 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.