Living in Brookings, SD

Brookings County

Brookings is South Dakota's 4th-largest city (a real, cited 2026 population in the low-to-mid-20,000s, with a disclosed cross-source spread from approximately 23,884 to 25,380) and this record places it in this project's top relocation-content tier on the strength of a genuine, defining college-town identity: South Dakota State University (SDSU), confirmed via WebSearch this pass as the largest university in South Dakota by enrollment (12,139 students, fall 2025), enrolls roughly HALF of Brookings' own cited city population -- a real, structural fact this record discloses directly. Brookings also hosts Daktronics (a publicly traded, NASDAQ-listed electronic-display manufacturer headquartered in the city with more than 1,500 local employees) and the Research Park at SDSU (a real, growing technology and innovation hub), giving Brookings a genuine, disclosed tech/research-park presence layered on top of SDSU's substantial agricultural-research and engineering programs as South Dakota's land-grant university. This record discloses Brookings' honest 2026 picture directly rather than uniformly. On the strength side: Brookings' housing market runs genuinely, meaningfully below the ~$408,776 national comparison figure (Zillow's cited average value ~$311,934, Redfin's cited single-month median ~$315,000), rent remains genuinely affordable in absolute terms (~$1,236/month average per RentCafe, though rising quickly), South Dakota levies no state individual income tax, cost-of-living indices ran modestly below the U.S. national average, statewide unemployment ran a real, very low ~2.0-2.2%, and Brookings Health System's 49-bed Brookings Hospital was named to Forbes' 2026 Top Hospitals by State list as the highest-rated South Dakota hospital across all five quality measures used. On the challenge side: Brookings County's cited effective property tax rate (~1.13-1.38%) runs above both the national and South Dakota state comparison figures, Brookings' crime rate runs higher than roughly 86% of South Dakota's own cities and towns (though near-average against similarly-sized communities nationally), Brookings Regional Airport carries no scheduled commercial airline service (the nearest major airport, Sioux Falls, sits roughly 55-57 miles away), and this record discloses a real, unresolved cross-source conflict on Brookings High School's graduation rate (86% vs. 94% depending on source) and on Redfin's own internal median-sale-price citation ($315,000 vs. a separate $484,000 three-month figure this record suspects may reflect a small-sample skew). This record states Brookings' honest 2026 picture directly: a genuine, below-national-cost college town anchored by a major state university, a publicly traded tech-manufacturing employer, and a growing research park, weighed honestly against real, disclosed property-tax, crime-comparison, and limited-air-service factors worth researching directly before committing to a specific Brookings address.

Explore Brookings in depth

• Moving to Brookings: Pros, Cons & What to Know
• Cost of Living in Brookings
• Housing Market in Brookings
• Buying a Home in Brookings
• Renting in Brookings
• Property Taxes in Brookings
• Taxes in Brookings
• Homeowners Insurance in Brookings
• Flood & Hurricane Risk in Brookings
• Climate & Weather in Brookings
• Jobs & Economy in Brookings
• Schools in Brookings
• Crime & Safety in Brookings
• Healthcare in Brookings
• Traffic & Transportation in Brookings
• Best Areas to Live in Brookings
• Pros and Cons of Living in Brookings
• Who Should / Shouldn’t Move to Brookings
• Who Should NOT Move to Brookings?
• Retiring in Brookings
• Living in Brookings for Families
• Living in Brookings for Remote Workers
• Is Brookings a Good Place to Live?

Housing

Taxes

The tradeoffs

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits movers whose specific priorities align with Brookings' real, genuine strengths -- a defining, major-university college-town identity paired with a real, growing tech/research-park and manufacturing employment base, genuinely below-national housing costs, no state income tax, and a well-regarded local rural hospital -- and who can accept Brookings' real, disclosed comparatively elevated property tax rate, its crime-rate comparison against other South Dakota communities specifically, and the lack of scheduled commercial air service directly from the city itself.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for anyone who requires low property tax rates specifically as a priority, given Brookings County's real, cited effective rate running above both the national and South Dakota state comparison figures despite Brookings' otherwise affordable home values. Anyone who requires a uniformly favorable crime comparison before moving, given Brookings' real, cited crime rate running higher than roughly 86% of South Dakota's own cities and towns (even though the same source separately cited it as near-average against similarly-sized communities nationally). Anyone who needs frequent, direct commercial air travel from their home city, given Brookings Regional Airport's real, current lack of scheduled airline service and the roughly 55-57-mile drive to the nearest major commercial airport in Sioux Falls. Anyone seeking a large-city amenity base or a non-university-centric community identity, given how substantially Brookings' real, current character is shaped by SDSU's presence.