Best PlacesMellette County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Mellette County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Mellette County ranks 2,614th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mellette 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.
Mellette County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mellette County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 98% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of counties
- Short commute16.7 minutes each way, better than 92% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of counties
Where Mellette County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 2% of counties
- Household income$44,134 median, better than only 3% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Mellette County
A household needs to earn about $17,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mellette County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $44,134, 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 Mellette County's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mellette County
Mellette County runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mellette County.
Who works in Mellette County, and how
Work in Mellette County centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Mellette County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mellette County.
Is Mellette County growing, and who is moving in?
Mellette County has lost about 11% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Jones County, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Mellette County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Mellette County, month by month
Mellette County sees roughly 138 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 21° | 13° |
| April | 59° | 44° | 33° |
| July | 89° | 74° | 62° |
| October | 63° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Mellette County
The nearest airport, Pierre Regional, is about 63 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 295 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mellette County
Schools across Mellette County average a B, better than 73% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- White River Elementary - 02D+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newcastle Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Jones County Middle School - 04B+ · 50% proficient
- White River Middle School - 04F · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- Jones County High School - 01A · 75% proficient
- Newcastle High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Colome High School - 01D+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mellette County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mellette 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 Mellette County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Mellette County
Is Mellette County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mellette County ranks 2,614th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, low taxes, and clean air, and lowest on a weak job market and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mellette County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $65,037. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $44,134 median income, cost of living beats 2% of counties.
Is Mellette County safe?
Mellette County is safer than 5% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $710 per resident a year.
Compare Mellette County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mellette County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mellette 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.
Mellette County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mellette County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mellette County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mellette County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mellette County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mellette 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.