Best PlacesMonroe, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Monroe, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Monroe ranks 9,407th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Monroe
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.
Monroe's strengths and weaknesses
Where Monroe ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 90% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 84% of towns
Where Monroe ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 8% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 17% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 26% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 32% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Monroe
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Monroe home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,791, 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 Monroe's effective rate of 0.99%, 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 Monroe
Monroe runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Monroe.
Who works in Monroe, and how
Work in Monroe centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Monroe
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Monroe.
What the weather is like in Monroe, month by month
Monroe sees roughly 106 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 Monroe
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 165 miles away.
The best schools in and around Monroe
Schools across Monroe average a C+, better than 48% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Parker Elementary - 02B · 50% proficient
- Canistota Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
- Marion Elementary - 02D+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Canistota Middle School - 03B− · 40% proficient
- Marion Middle School - 03D+ · 25% proficient
- Parker Jr. High - 03D · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Canistota High School - 01A · 75% proficient
- Parker High School - 01A− · 60% proficient
- Marion High School - 01D+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Monroe school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Monroe 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 Monroe against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Monroe
Is Monroe a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Monroe ranks 9,407th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, state infrastructure, and a strong job market, 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 Monroe expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $288,262. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $82,791 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Monroe safe?
Yes, Monroe is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $235 per resident a year.
Compare Monroe with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Monroe. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Monroe 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.
Monroe detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Monroe: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Monroe: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Monroe: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Monroe: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Monroe 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.