Best PlacesKingsbury County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Kingsbury 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.
Kingsbury County ranks 1,154th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kingsbury 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.
Kingsbury County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kingsbury County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 88% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 79% of counties
Where Kingsbury County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 11% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 17% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 26% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 27% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Kingsbury County
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kingsbury County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,230, 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 Kingsbury County's effective rate of 0.94%, 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 Kingsbury County
Kingsbury County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kingsbury County.
Who works in Kingsbury County, and how
Work in Kingsbury County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Kingsbury County
Kingsbury County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Kingsbury County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Kingsbury County growing, and who is moving in?
Kingsbury County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Brookings County, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Kingsbury County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Kingsbury County, month by month
Kingsbury County sees roughly 125 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 Kingsbury County
The nearest airport, Watertown Regional, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 209 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kingsbury County
Schools across Kingsbury County average a C, better than 40% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Iroquois Elementary - 04A+ · 75% proficient
- Laura Ingalls Wilder Elementary - 02A− · 60% proficient
- Willow Lake Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hamlin Middle School - 02C− · 30% proficient
- Oldham-ramona Jr. High - 03D+ · 25% proficient
- De Smet Middle School - 03D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Howard High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- De Smet High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Willow Lake High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kingsbury County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kingsbury 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 Kingsbury County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Kingsbury County
Is Kingsbury County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kingsbury County ranks 1,154th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, state infrastructure, and clean air, 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 Kingsbury County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $176,825. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $73,230 median income, cost of living beats 49% of counties.
Is Kingsbury County safe?
Yes, Kingsbury County is safer than 79% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $305 per resident a year.
Compare Kingsbury County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kingsbury County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kingsbury 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.
Kingsbury County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kingsbury County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kingsbury County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kingsbury County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kingsbury County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kingsbury 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.