Best PlacesMinnehaha County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Minnehaha County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Minnehaha County ranks 260th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $86,427, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are noise, property taxes, and tree cover.
The best neighborhoods in Minnehaha 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.
The best areas in Minnehaha County
The parts of Minnehaha County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Hartford
Crime runs lower, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Garretson
More households have young kids and more residents vote.
Dell Rapids
It is quieter, though biking is worse.
Brandon
Prices have run up more.
Sioux Falls
Fewer homes sit empty.
Minnehaha County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 14% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Minnehaha County's strengths and weaknesses
Minnehaha County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Cell coverage is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Low taxes and few empty homes follow.
The one real hole is noise, near the bottom of the country. Property taxes and tree cover also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Minnehaha County ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 98% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of counties
- BikingBetter than 91% of counties
Where Minnehaha County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 26% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 34% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 36% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Minnehaha County
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Minnehaha County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,427, 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 Minnehaha County's effective rate of 1.07%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Minnehaha County
Minnehaha County runs younger 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 Minnehaha County.
Who works in Minnehaha County, and how
Work in Minnehaha County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Minnehaha County
Minnehaha County has more parkland per resident than 94% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 79% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Minnehaha County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Minnehaha County growing, and who is moving in?
Minnehaha County has grown about 15% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Sioux Falls, SD metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Minnehaha County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Minnehaha County, month by month
Minnehaha County sees roughly 109 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 19° | 9° |
| April | 62° | 47° | 34° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 62° |
| October | 65° | 50° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Minnehaha County
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 162 miles away.
The best schools in and around Minnehaha County
Schools across Minnehaha County average a C+, better than 57% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Challenge Center - 51A+ · 80% proficient
- West Lyon Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Sonia Sotomayor Elementary - 65A · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Lyon Junior High SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Brandon Valley Middle School - 02A− · 56% proficient
- Dell Rapids Middle School - 03A− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Montrose High School - 01A+ · 90% proficient
- West Lyon High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Brandon Valley High School - 01A · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Minnehaha County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Minnehaha 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 Minnehaha County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Minnehaha County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 92% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Minnehaha County
Is Minnehaha County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Minnehaha County ranks 260th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cell coverage, low taxes, and few empty homes, and lowest on noise and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Minnehaha County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $305,716. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $86,427 median income, cost of living beats 92% of counties.
Is Minnehaha County safe?
Yes, Minnehaha County is safer than 72% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $341 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Minnehaha County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 31 with lows near 9. That works out to about 109 pleasant days a year, more than 67% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Minnehaha County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Hartford, Garretson, and Dell Rapids. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Minnehaha County good for families?
Schools beat 57% of counties, crime safety beats 72%, and childcare runs $842 a month.
Is Minnehaha County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 92% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 80% of counties. About 11% of workers already work from home.
Compare Minnehaha County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Minnehaha County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Minnehaha 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.
Minnehaha County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Minnehaha County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Minnehaha County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Minnehaha County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Minnehaha County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Minnehaha 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.