Best PlacesMoody County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Moody 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.
Moody County ranks 723rd 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 Moody 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.
Moody County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Moody County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 88% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 85% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 132 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of counties
Where Moody County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 20% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 25% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 26% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Moody County
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Moody County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,631, 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 Moody County's effective rate of 0.89%, 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 Moody County
Moody County'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 Moody County.
Who works in Moody County, and how
Work in Moody County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Moody County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Moody County.
Is Moody County growing, and who is moving in?
Moody County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sioux Falls, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Moody County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Moody County, month by month
Moody County sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 25, with lows near 8. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 25° | 16° | 8° |
| April | 55° | 43° | 33° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 62° |
| October | 58° | 47° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Moody County
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 180 miles away.
The best schools in and around Moody County
Schools across Moody County average a C, better than 36% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Lake Benton ElementaryB+ · 52% proficient
- Camelot Intermediate - 06B · 48% proficient
- Colman Elementary - 03B− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rutland Jr. High - 03A+ · 75% proficient
- Dell Rapids Middle School - 03A− · 55% proficient
- Elkton Jr. High - 03C− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Dell Rapids High School - 01B+ · 55% proficient
- Brookings High School - 01B+ · 53% proficient
- Chester High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Moody County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Moody 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 Moody County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Moody County
Is Moody County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Moody County ranks 723rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, state infrastructure, and clean air, 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 Moody County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $252,309. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $78,631 median income, cost of living beats 73% of counties.
Is Moody County safe?
Moody County is safer than 45% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $395 per resident a year.
Compare Moody County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Moody County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Moody 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.
Moody County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Moody County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Moody County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Moody County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Moody County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Moody 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.