Best PlacesMiner County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Miner County, 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.
Miner County ranks 1,141st 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 Miner 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.
Miner County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Miner County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 89% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 88% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 138 pleasant days a year, better than 87% of counties
- QuietBetter than 82% of counties
Where Miner County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 13% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 13% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 23% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Miner County
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Miner County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,851, 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 Miner County's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 Miner County
Miner County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Miner County.
Who works in Miner County, and how
Work in Miner County centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Miner County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Miner County.
Is Miner County growing, and who is moving in?
Miner County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Lawrence County, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Miner County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Miner County, month by month
Miner County sees roughly 138 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 Miner County
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 205 miles away.
The best schools in and around Miner County
Schools across Miner County average a C+, better than 64% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Shannon Colony Elementary - 08A+ · 75% proficient
- Sanborn Central Elementary - 06A+ · 75% proficient
- Pipestone ElementaryB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sanborn Central Middle School - 02A+ · 75% proficient
- Hanson Middle School - 02B− · 40% proficient
- Pipestone MiddleC+ · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Sanborn Central High School - 01A · 75% proficient
- Mccook Central High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Howard High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Miner County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Miner 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 Miner County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Miner County
Is Miner County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Miner County ranks 1,141st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, clean air, 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 Miner County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $172,607. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $81,851 median income, cost of living beats 60% of counties.
Is Miner County safe?
Miner County is safer than 54% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $363 per resident a year.
Compare Miner County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Miner County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Miner 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.
Miner County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Miner County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Miner County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Miner County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Miner County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Miner 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.