Do you live in one of the murder capitals of South Dakota?
We all watch the news with horror when we hear about a homicide that happens not that far away from us. While a murder just blocks or even a couple of towns away from your house would make anyone uneasy, in the long run, most likely, where you live is relatively safe.
To find the cities in South Dakota with the most murders and the highest murder rates per capita, we used Saturday Night Science to compare the FBI crime data on murders for the 7 cities in the Mount Rushmore State with over 8,000 residents.
What city has the highest murder rate in South Dakota? The city with the highest murder rate in South Dakota is Tea with 12 murders per 100,000 people.
What is the city in South Dakota with highest number of murders? The city in South Dakota with the highest number of murders is Sioux Falls with 14 murders.
Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town in South Dakota ranked. There were ‘only’ 7 cities in South Dakota where a city reported a murder to the FBI, meaning 22 places had no murder.
12 per 100k · #1 highest murder rate in South Dakota
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
7 per 100k · #2 highest murder rate in South Dakota
Located in
Pennington County, South Dakota
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
7 per 100k · #3 highest murder rate in South Dakota
Located in
Beadle County, South Dakota
Huron is a city in Beadle County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 12,592 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Beadle County. Huron was the home of now-defunct Huron University. The Huron Plainsman, also referred to as the Plainsman, is the newspaper. The first settlement at Huron was made in 1880. The city was named after the Huron Indians. It is currently the ninth largest city in South Dakota, but it once was the fourth. Huron was in the running for capital of South Dakota but lost out to Pierre due to Pierres positioning.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
7 per 100k · #4 highest murder rate in South Dakota
Located in
Minnehaha County, South Dakota
Sioux Falls is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 145th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County. and also extends into Lincoln County to the south. It is the 47th fastest-growing city in the United States and the fastest-growing metro area in South Dakota, with a population increase of 22% between 2000 and 2010.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
6 per 100k · #5 highest murder rate in South Dakota
Located in
Davison County, South Dakota
Mitchell is the county seat of Davison County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 15,254 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
6 per 100k · #6 highest murder rate in South Dakota
Located in
Yankton County, South Dakota
Yankton is a city in, and the county seat of, Yankton County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 14,454 at the 2010 census. Yankton is the principal city of the Yankton Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes the entirety of Yankton County, and which had an estimated population of 22,702 as of July 1, 2015.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
6 per 100k · #7 highest murder rate in South Dakota
Located in
Pennington County, South Dakota
Rapid City is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, on which the city is established, it is set against the eastern slope of the Black Hills mountain range. The population was 67,956 as of the 2010 Census. Known as the “Gateway to the Black Hills” and the “City of Presidents”, it is split by a low mountain ridge that divides the western and eastern parts of the city. Ellsworth Air Force Base is located on the outskirts of the city. Camp Rapid, a part of the South Dakota Army National Guard, is located in the western part of the city. The historic “Old West” town of Deadwood is nearby. In the neighboring Black Hills are the popular tourist attractions of Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park, and Wind Cave National Park.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is South Dakota’s statewide median.
On the map
Where South Dakota’s murders happen
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we calculated the murder capitals of South Dakota
While there are surveys and public polls on what cities in a state are the most dangerous, we wanted to rely on something other than speculation and opinion. Instead, we used Saturday Night Science to compare the hard numbers from the FBI’s last year of reporting. Specifically, we analyzed the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, which summarizes the number of murders in each city annually.
We only looked at every single city in South Dakota for which FBI data was available for the most recent FBI Crime In The United States. That left us with 7 cities to rank.
We took the number of murders per capita as the ranking factor. The place with the most murders per capita based on the most recent data is Tea. It is our eleventh time ranking the places with the most murders per capita in South Dakota. We updated the list for 2026.
The full plate
Murder Rates By City In South Dakota
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Murders | Murders/100K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tea | 8,055 | 1 | 12 |
| 2 | Box Elder | 14,589 | 1 | 7 |
| 3 | Huron | 14,740 | 1 | 7 |
| 4 | Sioux Falls | 210,926 | 14 | 7 |
| 5 | Mitchell | 15,607 | 1 | 6 |
| 6 | Yankton | 15,698 | 1 | 6 |
| 7 | Rapid City | 80,957 | 5 | 6 |
Source: FBI Uniform Crime Report. 7 South Dakota cities that reported a murder.
Summary
Summary: The Places With The Most Murders In South Dakota For 2026
If you’re looking at the places in South Dakota with the most murders, and where residents have the highest chances of being killed themselves, this is an accurate list. Again, these statistics are an indication of where crimes occur, not a statement about the effectiveness of the law enforcement in the areas they serve.
The cities with the highest murder per capita in South Dakota are Tea, Box Elder, Huron, Sioux Falls, Mitchell, Yankton, Rapid City. Not sold on South Dakota? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Deadliest Cities In South Dakota FAQs
What city in South Dakota has the highest murder rate?
Tea has the highest murder rate in South Dakota for 2026, at 12 murders per 100,000 residents. That is based on the latest FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
What is the murder capital of South Dakota?
Tea is the murder capital of South Dakota on a per-capita basis. On raw numbers, Sioux Falls logged the most murders with 14.
How many cities in South Dakota reported no murders at all?
22 South Dakota cities reported zero murders to the FBI in the most recent reporting year. Only 7 cities reported at least one, and those are the ones in this ranking.
What are the deadliest cities in South Dakota?
The deadliest cities in South Dakota are Tea, Box Elder, Huron, Sioux Falls, Mitchell, Yankton, Rapid City, ranked by murders per capita. All of the numbers come from the FBI’s most recent Uniform Crime Report.
Why rank by murder rate instead of total murders?
Because population size swamps everything else. The biggest cities almost always log the most total murders, but a rate per 100,000 residents shows where the risk actually runs highest — which is why Tea tops this list at 12 per 100k.
