The Best College Towns In South Dakota For 2024

Believe it or not, America has the best colleges in the world. It's been proven by data (and surveys) that the U.S. educational system is of the highest quality

It's actually not even close and South Dakota is home to a handful of them.

While we could debate which colleges within South Dakota are the 'best,' that's not the goal of this post.

Instead, ride along with us as we determine which college towns in South Dakota are the best.

You know, the type of places where there's energy and stimulation, but the type of place you can walk around at night. The happiest, chillest, most downright fun places where you can send your kids off to college where you won't break the bank, or worry about their well being.

The 10 Best College Towns In South Dakota For 2024

1. Madison, SD
2. Vermillion, SD
3. Yankton, SD
4. Aberdeen, SD
5. Spearfish, SD
6. Brookings, SD
7. Mitchell, SD
8. Rapid City, SD
9. Sioux Falls, SD

While some of these may not seem like a 'real' college town per se, when you look at the numbers, it's hard to argue against.

And for those who live in Madison, Vermillion and Yankton - we tip our hats to you and we'll schedule a tour for next week. You can see where Madison ranks in terms of the best college town in America.

Even though there are only 9 cities on our list, you need to remember there are another 381 places in South Dakota that don't even have a college. One might say you gotta be in it in to win it.

Read on to find out more or for more on South Dakota check out:

• Best Places To Live In South Dakota
• Best Counties To Live In South Dakota
• Cheapest Places To Live In South Dakota

The 10 Best College Towns In South Dakota For 2024

Colleges: Dakota State University

Colleges: University of South Dakota

Colleges: Mount Marty College, Avera Sacred Heart Hospital

Colleges: Northern State University, Presentation College

Colleges: Black Hills State University

Colleges: South Dakota State University

Colleges: Mitchell Technical Institute, Dakota Wesleyan University

Colleges: South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, National American University-Rapid City, Western Dakota Technical Institute

Colleges: Southeast Technical Institute, Augustana University, University of Sioux Falls

How'd we figure out the best college towns in South Dakota?

To crunch our data on South Dakota's best college towns, we used Saturday Night Science to decide which qualities (or rankings) make sense to use in the data, and then crunch the numbers for our rankings.

First off, we firmly decided that only cities with a 4 year college should make the cut -- so there has to be at least one college granting bachelors degrees in town.

You might be surprised to hear that there are only 9 places in South Dakota with an institution of higher learning with that criteria.

Source of data include OpenStreetMaps, the College Scorecard, the U.S. Census, and FBI reporting data to include the following factors:

• Students Make Up Large % of the Population
• College-specific Factors
• Graduation rate
• Tuition Cost
• Student Body Diversity
• Town Characteristics
• Safety
• Affordability
• Income and Employment Opportunities
• Things to Do
• Bars
• Museums & Libraries
• Population Density

We ranked each city across each of the criteria, with one being the best.

We rolled up the individual scores into the category and ranked them again based on the category.

Finally, we took the average rank across each category, with the city posting the lowest overall score being crowned the winner of the title "Best College Town In South Dakota For 2024." We updated this article for 2024. This is our six time ranking the best college towns in South Dakota.

And it looks like Madison placed Summa Cum Laude.

There You Have It -- The Best College Towns In The South Dakota

If you're looking for the best college towns in South Dakota, you came to the right place.

The best college towns in South Dakota are Madison, Vermillion, Yankton, Aberdeen, Spearfish, Brookings, Mitchell, Rapid City, and Sioux Falls.

These places all have great college sports programs, tons of stuff to do, and are great places to raise a family.

For more reading, check out:

• Gayest Cities In South Dakota
• Best Places To Retire In South Dakota
• Fastest Growing Cities In South Dakota

9 Best College Towns In South Dakota

Rank	City	Population
1	Madison, SD	6271
2	Vermillion, SD	11667
3	Yankton, SD	15421
4	Aberdeen, SD	28388
5	Spearfish, SD	12268
6	Brookings, SD	23530
7	Mitchell, SD	15656
8	Rapid City, SD	75632
9	Sioux Falls, SD	193401