Best PlacesVeblen, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Veblen, 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.
Veblen ranks 14,116th 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 Veblen
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.
Veblen's strengths and weaknesses
Where Veblen ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 89% of towns
Where Veblen ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Veblen
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Veblen home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,126, 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 Veblen's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Veblen
Veblen'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 Veblen.
Who works in Veblen, and how
Work in Veblen centers on agriculture & forestry and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Veblen
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Veblen.
What the weather is like in Veblen, month by month
Veblen sees roughly 125 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 Veblen
The nearest airport, Aberdeen Regional, is about 60 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 210 miles away.
The best schools in and around Veblen
Schools across Veblen average a C, better than 39% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Britton-hecla Elementary - 02A− · 60% proficient
- Browns Valley ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Browns Valley MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
- Sisseton Middle School - 02D+ · 25% proficient
- Britton-hecla Middle School - 03D · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Sisseton High School - 01B · 50% proficient
- Britton-hecla High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Wheaton SecondaryC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Veblen school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Veblen 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 Veblen against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Veblen
Is Veblen a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Veblen ranks 14,116th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, a strong job market, and clean air, 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 Veblen expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $117,468. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $78,126 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Veblen safe?
Veblen is safer than 17% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $505 per resident a year.
Compare Veblen with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Veblen. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Veblen 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.
Veblen detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Veblen: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Veblen: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Veblen: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Veblen: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Veblen 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.