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Towns / South Dakota

Baltic, South Dakota

Baltic is a small town of about 1,300 people in Minnehaha County, South Dakota. It has grown about 8% since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.4 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Omaha, is about 176 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,344
up 8% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$254,200
Minnehaha County prices up 12% since 2022
Household income
$107,768
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Sioux Falls area
90.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
5 miles
Dell Rapids, SD
To Omaha
176 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 9.4% below the U.S. average in the Sioux Falls metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.4 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Baltic itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byAvera Dells Area Hospital - Cah in Dell Rapids, about 5 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityOmaha is about 176 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Baltic meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$254,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 12%Minnehaha County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$107,768U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
81%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,111 a yearSouth Dakota: $2,724
Homes built before 1940
6%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
25%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
2%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
90.6U.S. average = 100 (the Sioux Falls metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 12% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Sioux Falls metro area, not Baltic alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,3442020: 1,244
Median age
29.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
8%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
38%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
25%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
2%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (19%); retail (14%); manufacturing (13%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
22 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
7%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
1%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Avera Dells Area Hospital - Cah, Dell Rapids, SD, about 5 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: Sanford Usd Medical Center, Sioux Falls, SD, about 15 miles away. Medicare gives it 5 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

3 public schools in Baltic, run by Baltic School District 49-1.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on South Dakota's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
93%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
98%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
6°F
July average high
83°F
Days 90°F or hotter
10 a year
Nights at or below freezing
163 a year
Rain and melted snow
27.9 inches a year
Snow
40 inches a year
Elevation
1,499 feet

Weather stations: Sioux Falls 14 NNE (6 miles away) and Colton (10 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Avera Dells Area Hospital - Cah, Sioux Falls, Omaha.

Minnehaha County is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Pipestone National Monument27 miles

Read about Baltic's history on Wikipedia.

Know Baltic?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Lyons, SD (unincorporated)112 people, 7 miles
  • Renner Corner, SD (unincorporated)279 people, 8 miles
  • Meadow View Addition, SD (unincorporated)879 people, 10 miles
  • Colton, SD687 people, 10 miles
  • Trent, SD242 people, 11 miles
  • Chester, SD (unincorporated)152 people, 14 miles
  • Brant Lake South, SD (unincorporated)211 people, 15 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.