Best PlacesYankton County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Yankton County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Yankton County ranks 168th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Yankton 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.
Yankton County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Yankton County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- School gradeA, better than 96% of counties
- Short commute15.3 minutes each way, better than 95% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 88% of counties
Where Yankton County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 18% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 27% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 30% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 34% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Yankton County
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Yankton County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,245, 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 Yankton County's effective rate of 1.01%, 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 Yankton County
Yankton 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 Yankton County.
Who works in Yankton County, and how
Work in Yankton County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Yankton County
Yankton County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Yankton County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Yankton County growing, and who is moving in?
Yankton County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Clay County, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Yankton County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Yankton County, month by month
Yankton County sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 21° | 13° |
| April | 61° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Yankton County
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 57 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 135 miles away.
The best schools in and around Yankton County
Schools across Yankton County average an A, better than 96% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Akron Westfield Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Beadle Elementary - 03A− · 60% proficient
- Stewart Elementary - 05A− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Akron Westfield Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Menno Middle School - 05A · 60% proficient
- Yankton Middle School - 02B · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Akron Westfield Senior High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Yankton High School - 01B+ · 56% proficient
- Scotland High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Yankton County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Yankton 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 Yankton County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Yankton County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties and 6% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 74% of counties and health care access beats 72%.
Common questions about living in Yankton County
Is Yankton County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Yankton County ranks 168th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, good schools, and short commutes, 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 Yankton County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $246,908. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $77,245 median income, cost of living beats 85% of counties.
Is Yankton County safe?
Yes, Yankton County is safer than 91% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $270 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Yankton County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 31 with lows near 13. That works out to about 120 pleasant days a year, more than 74% of counties.
Is Yankton County good for families?
Schools beat 96% of counties, crime safety beats 91%, and childcare runs $702 a month.
Compare Yankton County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Yankton County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Yankton 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.
Yankton County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Yankton County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Yankton County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Yankton County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Yankton County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Yankton 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.