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Place dossier plate
SheetSD-ST-FRANCIS-SD · St. Francis, SD 631 pop · income 13th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around St. Francis
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest St. Francis on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Parmelee · lowest
30,859
Parmelee · lowest
30,859 median HH income
29.7% of the leader · rank #1
St. Francis · this city
45,417
St. Francis · this city
45,417 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #2
St. David · near
45,417
St. David · near
45,417 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #3
Cutler · near
45,417
Cutler · near
45,417 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #4
Allerton · near
45,417
Allerton · near
45,417 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #5
Elkton · near
45,417
Elkton · near
45,417 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #6
New Jerusalem · highest
103,750
New Jerusalem · highest
103,750 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for St. Francis on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 631.
Nationally, St. Francis sits in the 13th percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
13th
percentile, household income
13th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: St. Francis, SD
South Dakota's St. Francis is a small town, with 631 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in St. Francis report a median income of $45,417 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 33.3%. The median resident age is 25.8 years. About 38.1% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 54.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in South Dakota run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts South Dakota at 88.6 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $990 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts South Dakota's average monthly utility costs around $200 (state average). Commute times here average 13.0 minutes, with 58.9% driving alone and 3.3% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 26.8 out of 100 (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of St. Francis's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from population change to work and mobility to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For St. Francis, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Population change
Is St. Francis growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -22 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -4.7% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
What does the journey to work look like in St. Francis?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 58.9%. The reported mean trip to work is 13.0 minutes.
Which cities make useful reference points for St. Francis?
Within South Dakota, the closest population matches are Murdo (633 residents, $66,250 income); Faulkton (627 residents, $68,672 income); Parmelee (637 residents, $30,859 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Dahlgren, IL (631 residents); Upton, KY (631 residents); Parkdale, MI (631 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
Low income · poverty 33.3% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
88.6 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, South Dakota average
D
City profile score · St. Francis, SD
41/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living A+
88.6 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share B
38.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$45,417
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
33.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
St. Francis profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 91/100 (A+) · 88.6 index
Bachelor's+ share: 72/100 (B) · 38.1%
Household income: 14/100 (F) · $45,417
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 33.3%
How does St. Francis compare to other US cities?
Where St. Francis sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income13% higher than other cities
Median rent13% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares St. Francis against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to South Dakota only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
South Dakota-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places St. Francis near the bottom of South Dakota's cities
Among the 303 South Dakota cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, St. Francis ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares St. Francis only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#238 of 285
16th percentile in South Dakota
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 303
0th percentile in South Dakota
Poverty Rate
#34 of 302
89th percentile in South Dakota
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#27 of 303
91st percentile in South Dakota
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within South Dakota only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
13th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$45,417St. Francis, SD median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context St. Francis, SD median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for St. Francis, SD.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)38.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)33.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)54.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
631
Median Income
$45,417
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
25.8
Poverty Rate
33.3%
Labor force participation
54.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
38.1%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
St. Francis's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
471 residents
2021
472 residents
2022
466 residents
2023
456 residents
2024
452 residents
2025
449 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
13.0 minutes
Drive Alone
58.9%
Carpool
14.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
23.4%
Work from Home
3.3%
Based on 209 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
South Dakota statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $200
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across South Dakota at $200 (electricity about $95 , water and sewer about $40 ).
These are South Dakota statewide averages, not a meter reading for St. Francis. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
South Dakota's BEA cost-of-living index is 88.6 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around St. Francis is $990/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to South Dakota statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 26.8 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a South Dakota statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county St. Francis sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How St. Francis compares to similar-size South Dakota cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.