Scores by category

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

Safety74#3,991/15,637
Economy48#8,063/15,631
Housing96#615/14,977
Health73#4,253/15,609
Healthcare71#4,606/15,650
Environment99#200/15,453
Education58#6,637/15,649
Infrastructure12#13,784/15,650
Community77#3,592/15,651
Leisure & amenities78#3,381/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Milbank, South Dakota ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Grant 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

Average commute time · low9.1 min
100/100South Dakota 17.8 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Social associations · high29.1 /10k
100/100South Dakota 15.4 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGrant County value
Public libraries · high5.3 /10k
99/100South Dakota 1.4 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesGrant 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 dataGrant County value
Grocery stores · high4.0 /10k
98/100South Dakota 2.0 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsGrant County value
Child care cost burden · low18.2%
98/100South Dakota 21.5%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGrant County value

Weaknesses

Mental health providers · low26 /100k
2/100South Dakota 260 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteGrant County value
Mental health care shortage · high19.0
3/100South Dakota 18.0United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationGrant County value
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100South Dakota 3.6 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyGrant County value
Gyms and fitness centers · low0.0 /10k
4/100South Dakota 1.2 /10kUnited States 1.3 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsGrant County value
Broadband subscriptions · low82.4%
6/100South Dakota 89.6%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Distance to an airport · high112 mi
7/100South Dakota 114 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauGrant County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
3,166 (2015-2019) → 3,525 (2020-2024)
+11%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedImproving
0.6 /1k (2021) → 3.4 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+494%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Uninsured residents (under 65)Improving
11.2% (2015-2019) → 3.6% (2020-2024)
−7.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Child poverty rateWorsening
3.5% (2015-2019) → 10.9% (2020-2024)
+7.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Median household incomeImproving
$42,383 (2015-2019) → $56,011 (2020-2024)
+32%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
34.9% (2015-2019) → 29.7% (2020-2024)
−5.3 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, Milbank, South Dakota improved on 0 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Milbank, South Dakota between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	10.2 min2015-2019	9.1 min2020-2024	−1.0 min	Within the margin of error	60%
Bachelor's degree or higher	26.3%2015-2019	31.2%2020-2024	+4.9 points	Within the margin of error	67%
Broadband subscriptions	84.9%2015-2019	82.4%2020-2024	−2.5 points	Within the margin of error	4%
Effective property tax rate	1.29%2015-2019	0.97%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	76%
High school diploma or higher	92.5%2015-2019	93.1%2020-2024	+0.6 points	Within the margin of error	40%
Home price to income ratio	3.1×2015-2019	2.8×2020-2024	−0.3×	Within the margin of error	90%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4472015-2019	0.4892020-2024	+0.042	Within the margin of error	20%
Median household income	$42,3832015-2019	$56,0112020-2024	+32%	Within the margin of error	60%
Poverty rate	8.9%2015-2019	13.2%2020-2024	+4.3 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	23.7%2015-2019	26.5%2020-2024	+2.8 points	Within the margin of error	34%

“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 Milbank, South Dakota five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Milbank, 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, Milbank, South Dakota itself moved −5.3 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

3,525 residents (±27)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 60–69 men (+5.8 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

3,525 residents (±27)

Milbank, South Dakota
South Dakota share

White88%3,107
Black0.0%0
Hispanic or Latino11%†377

Education

2,618 residents (±136)

Milbank, South Dakota
South Dakota share

No high school diploma6.9%†180
High school or GED36%954
Some college15%†395

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

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

Household income

1,530 households (±138)

Milbank, South Dakota
South Dakota share

Under $25k27%†415
$25k–50k19%†287
$50k–75k16%†243
$75k–100k14%†219
$100k–150k12%†182
$150k–200k5.0%†77
$200k or more7.0%†107

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $25k–50k (−16.4 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,530 households (±138)

Milbank, South Dakota
South Dakota share

Own70%1,068
Rent30%462

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

419 households (±132)

Milbank, South Dakota
South Dakota share

Under $75065%†274
$750–1,0005.0%†21
$1,000–1,50018%†

Home values

1,068 homes (±152)

Milbank, South Dakota
South Dakota share

Under $150k48%†509
$150k–250k30%†324
$250k–400k11%†

Age of homes

1,738 homes (±124)

Milbank, South Dakota
South Dakota share

2010 or later6.2%†108
2000–20095.9%†102
1980–199921%†

Size of homes

1,738 homes (±124)

Milbank, South Dakota
South Dakota share

Studio3.2%†55
1 bedroom12%†214
2 bedrooms28%493

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,750 workers (±205)

Milbank, South Dakota
South Dakota share

Drive alone71%1,251
Carpool12%†203
Public transit0.0%0
Walk5.8%†102
Bike0.8%†14
Work from home10%†180
Other0.0%0

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Work from home (+7.5 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

1,570 workers (±197)

Milbank, South Dakota
South Dakota share

Under 15 min75%1,178
15–29 min22%†338
30–44 min2.5%†40

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

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 Grant County, the county holding most of Milbank's residents.

Grant County has 284 employer establishments, 376 for every 10,000 residents (1.51× the US rate of 248; 1.19× South Dakota's), with 3,666 paid employees at an average annual pay of $53,089. The Census Bureau also counts 633 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 284; 633 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 376; US 248 · South Dakota 317
Paid employees: 3,666
Average annual pay: $53,089; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	28	37.1	2.39×More than typical	181	$92,536	69
Religious organizations	19	25.1	4.53×More than typical	82	$21,305	—
Restaurants and other eating places	16	21.2	1.15×About typical	174	$14,023	—
Ambulatory health care services	15	19.9	0.95×About typical	512	$56,158	13
Construction of buildings	12	15.9	2.10×More than typical	25	$47,360	24
Truck transportation	12	15.9	3.14×More than typical	114	$41,702	20
Automotive repair and maintenance	10	13.2	2.63×More than typical	47	$35,872	20
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	10	13.2	4.20×More than typical	72	$96,583	15
Offices of other health practitioners	9	11.9	1.96×Too few to compare	380	$59,776	7
Other specialty trade contractors	9	11.9	4.75×Too few to compare	44	$130,409	24
Insurance agencies and brokerages	8	10.6	2.41×Too few to compare	29	$34,241	7
Building equipment contractors	7	9.3	1.54×Too few to compare	53	$65,906	8

Rank places for an industry Open Grant County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 7,556 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

In FY2026, an estimated $3,772 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Milbank, South Dakota: $1.07 per resident (US $2,007).

Obligations: $3,772; +54% vs FY2025
Per resident: $1.07; US $2,007
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 10%; US 8.7%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Department of Veterans Affairs$3,38490%
Department of the Army$38810%

Top recipients

MILBANK SD SKILLED NURSING FACILITY LLC$3,38490%
ECOLOGY MIR GROUP LLC$38810%

Spending by fiscal year

1.2KFY2017
7.8KFY2018
2.3KFY2019
2KFY2020
2.1KFY2021
2.3KFY2022
3.3KFY2023
1.7KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Nursing care facilities (skilled nursing facilities) · 6231$3,38490%
Special food services · 7223$38810%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 9, 2026, loaded Oct 9, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Milbank, South Dakota, so they do not add up across cities.

Milbank, South Dakota's figures are part of those of Grant County, SD ($216.1K in FY2026), never added to them: 1.7% of that total.

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

See federal money in Grant 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.

Milbank, 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.

Grant County92100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Grant 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/4642260

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends