A typical home in each town, bought with 20% down at 6.3% for 30 years, plus property tax at the town’s own rate and insurance. Change the numbers to fit you.

Down paymentRate%

Sturgis$2,350/mo

Typical home $377K (Zillow) · tax rate 1.19% · or rent about $780/mo · Housing →

Yankton$1,710/mo

Typical home $276K (Zillow) · tax rate 1.13% · or rent about $790/mo · Housing →

The difference: $640 a month, about $7,700 a year, between Sturgis and Yankton.

Estimates, not a quote: your price, rate, tax bill and insurance will differ. Tax rate = the Census median tax bill over the median home value.

Report cards

Yankton places higher on 15 of 22 SD lists

Our letter grades for safety, schools and health, then every South Dakota ranking list both towns are on. A grade is one measure; read the page behind it.

Safety

C−SturgisSafer than 23% of U.S. towns CYanktonSafer than 28% of U.S. towns

Schools

B−SturgisBetter than 51% of districts in the state B+YanktonBetter than 70% of districts in the state

Health

BSturgisHealthier than 61% of U.S. towns B+YanktonHealthier than 65% of U.S. towns

5Sturgis

15Yankton

Lists won, of 22 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

Lowest obesityHealth · 37 towns #4#35 Highest graduation rateSchools · 33 towns #24#3 Lowest depressionHealth · 37 towns #31#8 Most trailsOutdoors · 27 towns #22#8 Closest to a top hospitalHealth · 37 towns #15#28 Highest incomeIncome · 37 towns #34#22 Most remote workersWork · 37 towns #34#22 Shortest commuteGetting around · 37 towns #23#12

Left end = #1 in South Dakota. Showing the lists where the towns are furthest apart. All of Sturgis’s rankings →

Life in each

What daily life feels like in each

The weather, the land, the history and the people, row by row. None of it is a grade: more snow is a plus to a skier.

Seasons

SturgisYankton

Snow a year48″38″

January low15°F 10°F

July high86°F 87°F

Growing season (days)147d 164d

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)78th 55th

Outdoors & history

SturgisYankton

Trails3 mi 8 mi

Conserved land5.6%4.4%

Settled1878 1858

National Register places8 24

Community

SturgisYankton

Library hours a week57 hrs 60 hrs

Colleges in town—1

Posts this month0 0

Neighbors joined0 0

A dot marks the most on each row. Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 normals at the nearest station. Hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, expected yearly damage vs U.S. towns.

Where they are

323 miles apart

Straight-line miles between town centers.

SturgisSD YanktonSD

Sturgis ↔ Yankton323 miles apart

Everything, side by side

What matters to you?

Pick a few. Those rows jump to the top and the best fit on each is marked. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Only big differences vs South Dakota average

SturgisYankton

People

Population 7,086Lowest 15,540Highest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census +5.9%Lowest SD: +8.9% +6.6%Highest SD: +8.9%

Median age 40.3±3.3Lowest 6% above SD 41.4±1.7Highest 9% above SD

Yankton and Sturgis are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Kids under 18 22%±4Highest SD: 24.2% 21.2%±2.2Lowest SD: 24.2%

Sturgis and Yankton are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Age 65+ 19.4%±3.3Lowest SD: 18% 22%±2.7Highest SD: 18%

Yankton and Sturgis are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 24.4%Lowest SD: 31.9% 33.2%Highest SD: 31.9%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 1.8%±1.5Lowest SD: 5% 5.5%±1.2Highest SD: 5%

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $54,404±$9kLowest 28% below SD $67,804±$10kHighest 10% below SD

Yankton and Sturgis are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $271,200±$30kHighest 5% above SD $222,700±$17kLowest 13% below SD

Rentmedian gross, monthly $780±$214Lowest 18% below SD $790±$61Highest 16% below SD

Yankton and Sturgis are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Property taxmedian, yearly $3,222Highest 18% above SD $2,507Lowest 8% below SD

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 41%±17.3Highest SD: 39.8% 36%±8.3Lowest SD: 39.8%

Sturgis and Yankton are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Below poverty line 9.2%Lowest SD: 11.9% 14.1%Highest SD: 11.9%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 66.9%Highest SD: 68.6% 66.3%Lowest SD: 68.6%

Typical home builtmedian year 1976 4 yrs older than SD 1976 4 yrs older than SD

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 18 minHighest about the SD average 13 minLowest 25% below SD

Work from home 2%±1.4Lowest SD: 9.7% 5.5%±2.7Highest SD: 9.7%

Yankton and Sturgis are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Work in townworking residents 32.5%Lowest 61.2%Highest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 12.3 miHighest 1.8 miLowest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 0.84Lowest 1.32Highest

Top workplaceoutside town Rapid City (20%)Sioux Falls (9%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others Few work in YanktonFew work in Sturgis

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 5.6%Highest 4.4%Lowest

Trailsmapped miles 2.5 miLowest 8.4 miHighest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.4 miLowest 0.9 miHighest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 3Lowest 6Highest

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 58.3Lowest 66.6Highest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #10 of 34 in SD #12 of 34 in SD

School district Meade School District 46-1Yankton School District 63-3

High school in town Sturgis Brown High School - 01Yankton High School - 01

Students per teacherat that high school 17.6Lowest 18.0Highest

South Dakota average“±” Census margin of errorACS 2020–2024

Deciding?

Ask the people who live there

The numbers stop at the town line. Neighbors can tell you about the commute at 7am, the schools, the winters and the feel of the place.

Sturgis neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Sturgis’s Town Square.

Yankton neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Yankton’s Town Square.

Add a town

Set another town beside Sturgis and Yankton

One tap adds it. Up to 4 towns at once.

Towns like Sturgis

+ Compare

Belle Fourche5,804 people · $223K homes

+ Compare

Madison6,094 people · $193K homes

+ Compare

Huron14,385 people · $159K homes

+ Compare

Canton3,033 people · $191K homes

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2010 & 2020 censuses, LEHD commute flows; Zillow Home Value Index; NCES Common Core of Data; FBI crime reporting; CDC PLACES; FEMA National Risk Index; NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020; USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. “±” is the Census margin of error; differences inside it are never called. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. There is no overall score: which town is better depends on what matters to you.

Sturgis vs Yankton

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they part ways

A typical home costs $640 more a month in Sturgis

Yankton places higher on 15 of 22 SD lists

What daily life feels like in each

323 miles apart

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Set another town beside Sturgis and Yankton

Towns like Sturgis

Post to Sturgis

Check your email