What stands out worked out from the figures below

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Spink has the most people working from home (56.2%).

Brule has the highest household income ($250k).

What matters to you?

Pick a few. We’ll pull those rows to the top and mark which town comes out ahead on each. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Raising kidsAffordabilityOwning a homeShort commuteWorking from homeYounger crowdSettled, older crowdGrowing townOutdoorsyWalkable streets

Measure	Spink	Brule
People
Population	270Highest	254Lowest
Median age	41.4±22.1Lowest 9% above SD	55.5±4.4Highest 46% above SD
	Brule and Spink are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Kids under 18	11.9%±12Highest SD: 24.2%	5.5%±12.7Lowest SD: 24.2%
	Spink and Brule are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Age 65+	11.5%±12.2Lowest SD: 18%	16.1%±11.8Highest SD: 18%
	Brule and Spink are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+	26.9%Highest SD: 31.9%	14.9%Lowest SD: 31.9%
Enrolled in collegeshare of residents	0%±5.2 SD: 5%	0%±5.6 SD: 5%
Cost of living
Household incomemedian	$44,801±$44kLowest 40% below SD	$250,001Highest 233% above SD
Home valuemedian, owner-occupied	$280,000±$81k 9% above SD	—
Property taxmedian, yearly	$2,709Highest about the SD average	$1,407Lowest 48% below SD
Renters paying 30%+of income on rent	0%±29 SD: 39.8%	—
Below poverty line	1.5%Highest SD: 11.9%	0%Lowest SD: 11.9%
Housing
Homeownersof occupied homes	61%Lowest SD: 68.6%	100%Highest SD: 68.6%
Typical home builtmedian year	1962Highest 18 yrs older than SD	1938Lowest 42 yrs older than SD
Getting to work
Average commuteone way	26 minHighest 47% above SD	17 minLowest 4% below SD
Work from home	56.2%±47.3Highest SD: 9.7%	0%±4.8Lowest SD: 9.7%
Work in townworking residents	2.4%Highest	0%Lowest
Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line	21.3 miLowest	22.8 miHighest
Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub	0.43Highest	0.05Lowest
Top workplaceoutside town	Sioux Falls (23%)	Elk Point (22%)
Between these townsresidents who work in the others	Few work in Brule	Few work in Spink
Outdoors
Conserved landshare of the town	0%Lowest	0.7%Highest
Trailsmapped miles	1.9 miHighest	0.1 miLowest
Trail densitymiles per sq mi	0.1 miHighest	0.0 miLowest
Parks & preservesnamed on the map	0	0
Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure	1.2Lowest	1.6Highest
On TownTapestry
Old photos in History	None yet	None yet

SD average · Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates 2020–2024; 2010 & 2020 decennial census; NCES Common Core of Data; commute flows: Census LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics. “±” is the Census margin of error. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. School rank compares math and reading proficiency against the state average.