Best PlacesMansfield, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mansfield, 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.
Mansfield ranks 10,613th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mansfield
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.
Mansfield's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mansfield ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 84% of towns
Where Mansfield ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 20% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 31% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 37% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mansfield
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mansfield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $97,651, 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 Mansfield's effective rate of 0.86%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mansfield
Mansfield'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 Mansfield.
Who works in Mansfield, and how
Work in Mansfield 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 84%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Mansfield
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mansfield.
What the weather is like in Mansfield, month by month
Mansfield sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 15° | 5° |
| April | 58° | 43° | 29° |
| July | 88° | 73° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 47° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Mansfield
The nearest airport, Aberdeen Regional, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 264 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mansfield
Schools across Mansfield average a C+, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ipswich Elementary - 02A− · 60% proficient
- Warner Elementary - 02A− · 60% proficient
- Northwestern Elementary - 04B− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Warner Middle School - 03B− · 40% proficient
- Ipswich Middle School - 04B− · 40% proficient
- Browns Valley MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Northwestern High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Warner High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Ipswich High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mansfield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mansfield 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 Mansfield against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mansfield
Is Mansfield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mansfield ranks 10,613th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, low taxes, and state infrastructure, 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 Mansfield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $221,350. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $97,651 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is Mansfield safe?
Mansfield is safer than 31% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $427 per resident a year.
Compare Mansfield with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mansfield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mansfield 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.
Mansfield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mansfield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mansfield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mansfield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mansfield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mansfield 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.