Best PlacesMount Vernon, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mount Vernon, 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.
Mount Vernon ranks 19,677th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mount Vernon
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.
Mount Vernon's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mount Vernon ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 128 pleasant days a year, better than 84% of towns
- Short commute21.2 minutes each way, better than 83% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 83% of towns
Where Mount Vernon ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mount Vernon
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mount Vernon home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,295, 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 Mount Vernon's effective rate of 0.91%, 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 Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mount Vernon.
Who works in Mount Vernon, and how
Work in Mount Vernon centers on other services and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Mount Vernon
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mount Vernon.
What the weather is like in Mount Vernon, month by month
Mount Vernon sees roughly 128 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 19° | 12° |
| April | 60° | 46° | 36° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 63° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Mount Vernon
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 77 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 205 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mount Vernon
Schools across Mount Vernon average a B, better than 76% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- West Lyon Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Mount Vernon Elementary - 02A+ · 75% proficient
- Ethan Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Lyon Junior High SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Mount Vernon Middle School - 03D · 21% proficient
- Ethan Jr. High - 03D · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- West Lyon High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Mount Vernon High School- 01A− · 60% proficient
- Ethan High School - 01A− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mount Vernon school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mount Vernon 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 Mount Vernon against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mount Vernon
Is Mount Vernon a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mount Vernon ranks 19,677th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, state infrastructure, and the weather, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mount Vernon expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $211,941. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $82,295 median income, cost of living beats 68% of towns.
Is Mount Vernon safe?
Mount Vernon is safer than 14% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $563 per resident a year.
Compare Mount Vernon with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mount Vernon. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mount Vernon 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.
Mount Vernon detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mount Vernon: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mount Vernon: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mount Vernon: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mount Vernon: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mount Vernon 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.