Vermillion, South Dakota

Area Profile

11,878 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Vermillion, in Clay County.

58out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 48% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 40% of 4,199 cities measured61
SchoolsTop 26% of 4,162 cities measured69
Growth3,058th of 4,224 cities measured39
Housing affordabilityTop 35% of 4,218 cities measured72
Climate3,918th of 4,225 cities measured56
Physical resilience2,476th of 4,226 cities measured49
Access3,491st of 4,226 cities measured77
Economic stability2,705th of 4,226 cities measured50
The quick read

Unemployment is 2.3% and median household income $50,456, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Clay County, SD, which contains Vermillion, rather than for Vermillion alone.

In the public schools here, 47% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.1 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 16 units authorized over the past twelve months, 24% below the prior year.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
11,878
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$50,456
Bottom 23% nationally
Density
2,481/sq mi
4.8 sq mi of land
Median age
23.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
South Dakota
Micro area
Nearest major airport
SUX
38 mi · Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Fld
Median home value
$219,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Clay County, SD, which contains Vermillion, is 2.3%, lower than in 99% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Clay County, SD, which contains Vermillion, fell 1.7% over the past year, to 7,345 employed residents.

51% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 89% of measured US cities.

Median household income of $50,456 is lower than in 77% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsClay County, SD’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$45,6693rd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftClay County, SD’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$48,8785th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,8682024 ACS 5-Year$50,456Bottom 23%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,0572024 ACS 5-Year$26,468Bottom 25%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year11.0%Bottom 49%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year17.8 minTop 11%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year50.6%Top 11%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year73.7%38th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentClay County, SD’s figureJuly 20267,345Bottom 1%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Clay County, SD’s figureJuly 2026−0.4%Bottom 47%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Clay County, SD’s figureJuly 2026−1.7%Bottom 31%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceClay County, SD’s figureJuly 20267,5181st percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year78.9%Top 48%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year1.9%89th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Clay County, SD’s figureJuly 2026−0.1%Bottom 49%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateClay County, SD’s figureJuly 20262.3%Top 1%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year6.4%43rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202453k48k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $50,456 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Clay County, SD, which contains this city.

47% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 77% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.1 students for every full-time teacher across 2 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
2
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
47.4%
Top 50% in South Dakota
Reading proficiency
76.5%
Top 1% in South Dakota
All 2 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Vermillion High School - 01Vermillion School District 13-141315.337%77%
Vermillion Middle School - 02Vermillion School District 13-134314.960%76%

27.9% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against South Dakota’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of South Dakota is up 47% over five years, and up 3.1% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $3,214 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.47% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $929, some 22% above the $764 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $929 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $37,200 a year, about 74% of the median household income here of $50,456.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $764 a month.

A median home at $219,000 costs 2.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $101,517, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
30.4%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$929
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$764
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$219,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Vermillion’s median household income of $50,456, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of South Dakota’s figure2026 Q2+3.1%49th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of South Dakota’s figure2026 Q2+47.1%68th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of South Dakota’s figure2026 Q2+89.6%45th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.2Top 38%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year42.0%5th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1182024 ACS 5-Year4,70288th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$708Top 2%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,292Top 7%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$929Top 3%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$512024 ACS 5-Year$764Top 23%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$28,7922024 ACS 5-Year$219,00058th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$3932024 ACS 5-Year$3,21475th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,0212024 ACS 5-Year$101,517Top 26%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.26%2024 ACS 5-Year1.47%77th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year30.4%Bottom 39%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±792024 ACS 5-Year5884th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.2%64th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.1%50th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1952024 ACS 5-Year39087th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

39/ 100
Ranks 3,058 of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 11,877 in 2024.

63% of the 16 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

Federal tax returns show Clay County, which contains Vermillion, lost about 0.6% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $45,669, below the $48,878 of households that moved out.

At 1.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
16
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.3
Bottom 32% nationally
Year over year
−24%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
62.5%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202412k12k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.6%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
53%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$45,669
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$48,878
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Minnehaha County, SD 76 people · 9.2% of arrivals
  2. Union County, SD 70 people · 8.5% of arrivals
  3. Yankton County, SD 54 people · 6.6% of arrivals
  4. Lincoln County, SD 43 people · 5.2% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Minnehaha County, SD 113 people · 13% of departures
  2. Yankton County, SD 83 people · 9.5% of departures
  3. Lincoln County, SD 54 people · 6.2% of departures
  4. Union County, SD 46 people · 5.2% of departures
  5. Woodbury County, IA 45 people · 5.1% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Clay County, SD. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420255811
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−81%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 87°F and January a low of 10°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 28.7 inches, including 38.1 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 39, in the Good band, and about 2 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

0°20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station YANKTON 2 E, 23.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year572024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals28.7"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals38.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals10°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals87°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year22024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year392024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals55°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
39
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
57
90th percentile index
Days above 100
2
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

49 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and drought, with inland flooding alone responsible for 46% of it.

DroughtElevated
Winter weatherModerate
HailElevated
TornadoHigh
LightningModerate
Strong windModerate
Heat waveModerate
Inland floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: ice storm, wildfire, landslide, cold wave, earthquake, avalanche, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, tsunami, hurricane.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
185
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,141
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Vermillion's police department reported 185 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,141.

Clay County records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 10.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 0.0 per 100,000 residents in Clay County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
10.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
15.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Vermillion’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Vermillion (Clay County) rather than Vermillion itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Fld at 38 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year91.9%Top 40%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle38 miBottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year4.4%Top 33%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day FldSUX38 mi9,002 ft
Joe Foss FldFSD56 mi9,000 ft
Eppley AirfieldOMA115 mi9,502 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
58
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Vermillion

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Vermillion with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Vermillion closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
5706913,091$53,327$231,200—