Yankton, South Dakota

Area Profile

15,540 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Yankton, in Yankton County.

61out of 100
Area Score
Top 42% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 43% of 4,199 cities measured60
SchoolsTop 44% of 4,162 cities measured54
GrowthTop 25% of 4,224 cities measured62
Housing affordabilityTop 5% of 4,218 cities measured86
Climate3,918th of 4,225 cities measured56
Physical resilience2,248th of 4,226 cities measured55
Access3,897th of 4,226 cities measured64
Economic stability2,890th of 4,226 cities measured48
The quick read

Unemployment is 1.9% and median household income $67,804, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Yankton County, SD, which contains Yankton, rather than for Yankton alone.

In the public schools here, 49% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 17.1 students for every teacher.

155 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 3% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

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
15,540
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$67,804
Top 49% nationally
Density
1,778/sq mi
8.7 sq mi of land
Median age
41.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
South Dakota
Micro area
Nearest major airport
FSD
58 mi · Joe Foss Fld
Median home value
$222,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Yankton County, SD, which contains Yankton, is 1.9%, lower than in 99% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Yankton County, SD, which contains Yankton, fell 1.7% over the past year, to 11,959 employed residents.

33% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 74% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsYankton County, SD’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$59,79126th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftYankton County, SD’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$52,75811th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$10,0732024 ACS 5-Year$67,804Top 49%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$5,3362024 ACS 5-Year$41,073Top 30%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year13.3%Bottom 40%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year14.2 minTop 5%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year33.2%Top 26%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year79.0%56th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentYankton County, SD’s figureJuly 202611,959Bottom 6%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Yankton County, SD’s figureJuly 2026−2.9%Bottom 14%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Yankton County, SD’s figureJuly 2026−1.7%Bottom 31%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceYankton County, SD’s figureJuly 202612,1855th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year79.7%Top 45%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year2.7%92nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Yankton County, SD’s figureJuly 2026+0.1%Bottom 39%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateYankton County, SD’s figureJuly 20261.9%Top 1%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year5.5%39th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202469k59k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $67,804 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 Yankton County, SD, which contains this city.

49% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 60% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 17.1 students for every full-time teacher across 6 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
6
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
48.8%
Top 42% in South Dakota
Reading proficiency
59.8%
Top 42% in South Dakota
All 6 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Yankton High School - 01Yankton School District 63-392318.150%67%
Yankton Middle School - 02Yankton School District 63-360816.956%65%
Lincoln Elementary - 04Yankton School District 63-341616.047%57%
Beadle Elementary - 03Yankton School District 63-341215.848%51%
Webster Elementary - 06Yankton School District 63-339123.032%42%
Stewart Elementary - 05Yankton School District 63-327112.957%67%

34.6% 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 $2,507 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.13% 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 18% above the $790 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 55% of the median household income here of $67,804.

The typical renter household here spends 24% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $790 a month.

A median home at $222,700 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $85,401, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
24.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$929
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$790
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$222,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Yankton’s median household income of $67,804, 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-Year2.6Bottom 46%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year66.3%30th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2012024 ACS 5-Year7,20892nd percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$811Top 8%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 ±$612024 ACS 5-Year$790Top 27%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$17,2742024 ACS 5-Year$222,70059th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1082024 ACS 5-Year$2,50765th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,8002024 ACS 5-Year$85,401Top 42%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.10%2024 ACS 5-Year1.13%59th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year24.3%Top 30%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±652024 ACS 5-Year5183rd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%59th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.2%51st percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2172024 ACS 5-Year57091st 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

62/ 100
Top 25% of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in 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 2% since 2020, reaching 15,670 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 69 units authorized in 2025, 56% below the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 15,670 residents in 2024, up 0.3% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

78% of the 155 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 that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Yankton County, which contains Yankton, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $59,791, above the $52,758 of households that moved out.

At 10.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
155
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
10.0
Top 12% nationally
Year over year
−3%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
78.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202416k15k
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 rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
0.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
56%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$59,791
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$52,758
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Minnehaha County, SD 90 people · 9.1% of arrivals
  2. Clay County, SD 83 people · 8.4% of arrivals
  3. Bon Homme County, SD 63 people · 6.4% of arrivals
  4. Cedar County, NE 42 people · 4.2% of arrivals
  5. Miami-Dade County, FL 34 people · 3.4% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Minnehaha County, SD 131 people · 13% of departures
  2. Bon Homme County, SD 69 people · 6.9% of departures
  3. Clay County, SD 54 people · 5.4% of departures
  4. Lincoln County, SD 47 people · 4.7% of departures
  5. Cedar County, NE 38 people · 3.8% 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 Yankton County, SD. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202515767
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−20%).

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.

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, 1.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
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
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals55°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

55 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 36% of it.

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

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

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
191
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,456
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.

Yankton's police department reported 191 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,456.

Yankton County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.6 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 5.8 per 100,000 residents in Yankton County.

Homicide
2.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
5.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
19.6
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 Yankton’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 Yankton (Yankton County) rather than Yankton 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.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
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 Joe Foss Fld at 58 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year85.8%Bottom 34%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle58 miBottom 9%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-Year11.6%Bottom 32%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Joe Foss FldFSD58 mi9,000 ft
Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day FldSUX61 mi9,002 ft
Eppley AirfieldOMA134 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
61
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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
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
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
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
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 Yankton

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Yankton 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 Yankton 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
5707820,383$71,268$233,900—