City · Hutchinson County, South Dakota

Freeman, South Dakota

Freeman is a city in Hutchinson County, South Dakota. It has 1,565 residents. Freeman, South Dakota has a quality-of-life score of 82 out of 100 (very high), ranking #2,812 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within South Dakota it ranks #32 of 75 cities and towns. It ranks best on pharmacies (high), social associations (high) and suicide rate (low). It ranks worst on traffic deaths (high), new business applications (low) and distance to an Amtrak station (high).

82Very high

Quality-of-life score: #2,812 of 15,651 cities and towns
South Dakota: #32 of 75 in SD
Population: 1,565 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,051.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 4623020

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 69 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety82#2,818/15,637
Economy34#10,379/15,631
Housing94#889/14,977
Health80#3,061/15,609
Healthcare53#7,304/15,650
Environment68#4,921/15,453
Education84#2,550/15,649
Infrastructure42#9,076/15,650
Community83#2,625/15,651
Leisure & amenities69#4,917/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Freeman, South Dakota ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Hutchinson County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Pharmacies · high5.4 /10k
100/100South Dakota 1.4 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsHutchinson County value
Social associations · high27.0 /10k
100/100South Dakota 15.4 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHutchinson County value
Suicide rate · low0.0 /100k
100/100South Dakota 22.3 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataHutchinson County value
Public libraries · high5.4 /10k
99/100South Dakota 1.4 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesHutchinson County value
Firearm deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100South Dakota 15.3 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataHutchinson County value
Drug overdose deaths · low0.0 /100k
99/100South Dakota 8.0 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataHutchinson County value

Weaknesses

Traffic deaths · high51.4 /100k
2/100South Dakota 15.7 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataHutchinson County value
New business applications · low7.1 /1k
2/100South Dakota 12.9 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauHutchinson County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · high172 mi
3/100South Dakota 185 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauHutchinson County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100South Dakota 3.6 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyHutchinson County value
Drought exposure · high95%
4/100South Dakota 38%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAHutchinson County value
Mental health providers · low41 /100k
4/100South Dakota 260 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteHutchinson County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
1,459 (2015-2019) → 1,565 (2020-2024)
+7.3%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
68.8% (2015-2019) → 89.4% (2020-2024)
+21 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.5× (2015-2019) → 2.9× (2020-2024)
+88%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateWorsening
19.2% (2015-2019) → 35.4% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
New homes permittedImproving
2.3 /1k (2021) → 3.8 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+64%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
47.6% (2015-2019) → 36.1% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Freeman, South Dakota improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+21 points68.8% → 89.4%

Declined2

Inequality+0.0680.355 → 0.422
Price / income+1.3×1.5× → 2.9×

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Freeman, South Dakota between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	22.6 min2015-2019	15.8 min2020-2024	−6.8 min	Within the margin of error	95%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.7%2015-2019	19.3%2020-2024	−2.4 points	Within the margin of error	15%
Broadband subscriptions	68.8%2015-2019	89.4%2020-2024	+21 points	Improved	91%
Effective property tax rate	1.67%2015-2019	1.24%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	86%
High school diploma or higher	83.3%2015-2019	91.1%2020-2024	+7.8 points	Within the margin of error	92%
Home price to income ratio	1.5×2015-2019	2.9×2020-2024	+1.3×	Declined	12%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3552015-2019	0.4222020-2024	+0.068	Declined	11%
Median household income	$58,2002015-2019	$57,4402020-2024	−1.3%	Within the margin of error	7%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	24.1%2015-2019	24.2%2020-2024	+0.1 points	Within the margin of error	54%
Rent-burdened households	47.6%2015-2019	36.1%2020-2024	−12 points	Within the margin of error	85%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	13.6%2015-2019	8.3%2020-2024	−5.2 points	Within the margin of error	87%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Freeman, South Dakota five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Freeman, South Dakota in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Freeman, South Dakota itself moved +0.8 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

1,565 residents (±262)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

587 households (±69)

Freeman, South Dakota
South Dakota share

Under $25k18%†104
$25k–50k27%†156
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

587 households (±69)

Freeman, South Dakota
South Dakota share

Own75%441
Rent25%146

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

746 workers (±114)

Freeman, South Dakota
South Dakota share

Drive alone71%529
Carpool14%†104
Public transit0.0%0

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Hutchinson County, the county holding most of Freeman's residents.

Hutchinson County has 239 employer establishments, 323 for every 10,000 residents (1.30× the US rate of 248; 1.02× South Dakota's), with 2,149 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,191. The Census Bureau also counts 562 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 239; 562 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 323; US 248 · South Dakota 317
Paid employees: 2,149
Average annual pay: $47,191; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Hutchinson County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Religious organizations	20	27	4.87×More than typical	51	$13,608	—
Specialty trade contractors	14	18.9	1.22×About typical	101	$83,871	53
Ambulatory health care services	12	16.2	0.78×Fewer than typical	109	$51,661	16
Construction of buildings	11	14.9	1.97×More than typical	23	$63,522	11
Truck transportation	11	14.9	2.94×More than typical	26	$37,885	32
Automotive repair and maintenance	10	13.5	2.68×More than typical	39	$35,897	13
Banks and credit unions	9	12.2	3.77×Too few to compare	61	$71,197	—
Insurance agencies and brokerages	9	12.2	2.77×Too few to compare	25	$93,240	23
Building equipment contractors	8	10.8	1.80×Too few to compare	65	$87,862	10
Restaurants and other eating places	8	10.8	0.59×Too few to compare	56	$12,946	—
Drinking places (alcoholic beverages)	6	8.1	6.69×Too few to compare	37	$11,162	—
Electrical contractors and wiring installation	6	8.1	3.28×Too few to compare	56	$91,732	6

Rank places for an industry Open Hutchinson County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 7,397 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Freeman is mostly in Hutchinson County.

See federal money in Hutchinson County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Freeman, South Dakota is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Dusty JohnsonR-SD · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 4.7%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Hutchinson County91100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Hutchinson County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/4623020

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends