Best PlacesPotter County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Potter County, 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.
Potter County ranks 1,359th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Potter 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.
Potter County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Potter County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Short commute14.2 minutes each way, better than 97% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 88% of counties
Where Potter County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 11% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Potter County
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Potter County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,664, 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 Potter County's effective rate of 1.23%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Potter County
Potter 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 Potter County.
Who works in Potter County, and how
Work in Potter County centers on agriculture & forestry and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Potter County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Potter County.
Is Potter County growing, and who is moving in?
Potter County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Aurora County, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Potter County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Potter County, month by month
Potter County sees roughly 138 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 18° | 10° |
| April | 59° | 44° | 32° |
| July | 89° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 62° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Potter County
The nearest airport, Pierre Regional, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 329 miles away.
The best schools in and around Potter County
Schools across Potter County average a C+, better than 49% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Hoven Elementary - 02A+ · 75% proficient
- Faulkton Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
- Browns Valley ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Gettysburg Middle School - 03B− · 40% proficient
- Browns Valley MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
- Hoven Jr. High - 03D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Faulkton High School - 01A− · 60% proficient
- Gettysburg High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Hoven High School - 01D+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Potter County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Potter 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 Potter County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Potter County
Is Potter County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Potter County ranks 1,359th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, health care access, and low taxes, and lowest on distance from a big city and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Potter County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $118,598. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $71,664 median income, cost of living beats 33% of counties.
Is Potter County safe?
Potter County is safer than 11% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $657 per resident a year.
Compare Potter County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Potter County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Potter 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.
Potter County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Potter County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Potter County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Potter County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Potter County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Potter 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.