Best PlacesRoberts County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Roberts 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.
Roberts County ranks 1,831st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Roberts 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.
Roberts County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Roberts County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Short commute16.2 minutes each way, better than 93% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 88% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 126 pleasant days a year, better than 79% of counties
Where Roberts County ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 13% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 17% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 18% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Roberts County
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Roberts County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,225, 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 Roberts County's effective rate of 0.80%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Roberts County
Roberts County's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Roberts County.
Who works in Roberts County, and how
Work in Roberts County centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Roberts County
Roberts County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Roberts County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Roberts County growing, and who is moving in?
Roberts County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Potter County, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Roberts County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Roberts County, month by month
Roberts County sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 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° | 42° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 59° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Roberts County
The nearest airport, Watertown Regional, is about 49 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 189 miles away.
The best schools in and around Roberts County
Schools across Roberts County average a C−, better than 27% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Big Stone City Elementary - 01A+ · 75% proficient
- Milbank Elementary - 03A · 70% proficient
- Pearson ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Milbank Middle School - 02B+ · 50% proficient
- Browns Valley MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
- Waubay Middle School - 03D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Waubay High School - 01A · 75% proficient
- Sisseton High School - 01B · 50% proficient
- Milbank High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Roberts County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Roberts 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 Roberts County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Roberts County
Is Roberts County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Roberts County ranks 1,831st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, short commutes, and state infrastructure, and lowest on civic engagement 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 Roberts County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $157,826. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $66,225 median income, cost of living beats 45% of counties.
Is Roberts County safe?
Roberts County is safer than 18% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $537 per resident a year.
Compare Roberts County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Roberts County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Roberts 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.
Roberts County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Roberts County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Roberts County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Roberts County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Roberts County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Roberts 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.