Best PlacesKones Corner, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kones Corner, 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.
Kones Corner ranks 11,335th of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Kones Corner
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.
Kones Corner's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kones Corner ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 88% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 83% of towns
Where Kones Corner ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 8% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 9% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kones Corner
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kones Corner home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $90,549, 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 Kones Corner's effective rate of 1.01%, 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 Kones Corner
Kones Corner runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kones Corner.
Who works in Kones Corner, and how
Work in Kones Corner centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Kones Corner
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kones Corner.
What the weather is like in Kones Corner, month by month
Kones Corner sees roughly 125 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 6. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 14° | 6° |
| April | 54° | 42° | 32° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 61° |
| October | 58° | 46° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Kones Corner
The nearest airport, Watertown Regional, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 191 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kones Corner
Schools across Kones Corner average a C+, better than 53% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Castlewood Elementary - 02A− · 60% proficient
- Hamlin Elementary - 09B− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hamlin Middle School - 02C− · 30% proficient
- Castlewood Middle School - 03D · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Castlewood High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Hamlin High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kones Corner school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kones Corner 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 Kones Corner against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kones Corner
Is Kones Corner a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kones Corner ranks 11,335th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, heat safety, 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 Kones Corner expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $231,909. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $90,549 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is Kones Corner safe?
Yes, Kones Corner is safer than 59% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $322 per resident a year.
Compare Kones Corner with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kones Corner. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kones Corner 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.
Kones Corner detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kones Corner: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kones Corner: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kones Corner: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kones Corner: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kones Corner 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.