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Canton, South Dakota

Canton is a small town of about 3,000 people in Lincoln County, South Dakota. It's the county seat. It has lost about 2% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.1 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 144 miles away as the crow flies.

County seat

Population
3,001
down 2.4% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$191,400
Lincoln County prices up 10% since 2022
Household income
$60,850
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Sioux Falls area
90.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Sanford Canton-Inwood Medical Center - Cah
To Omaha
144 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 3.1 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood9 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 3.1 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 9.8 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close bySanford Canton-Inwood Medical Center - Cah is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityOmaha is about 144 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 Canton 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
$191,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 10%Lincoln County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$673 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$60,850U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
68%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,434 a yearSouth Dakota: $2,724
Homes built before 1940
42%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
3%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%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 10% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Sioux Falls metro area, not Canton 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
3,0012020: 3,075
Median age
42.2 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
26%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
23%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
17%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%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 (21%); manufacturing (18%); construction (11%)
Unemployment rate
5%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
20 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
9%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
8%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Sanford Canton-Inwood Medical Center - Cah, Canton, SD, in town. 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: Avera Heart Hospital of South Dakota, Sioux Falls, SD, about 16 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 Canton, run by Canton School District 41-1.

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
73%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
85%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
15 a year
Nights at or below freezing
160 a year
Rain and melted snow
27.8 inches a year
Snow
36 inches a year
Elevation
1,283 feet

Weather station: Canton (1 mile away). 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: Sioux Falls, Omaha.

Lincoln 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

16 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Missouri National Recreational River42 miles
  • Pipestone National Monument50 miles

Read about Canton's history on Wikipedia.

Know Canton?

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

  • Inwood, IA965 people, 8 miles
  • Worthing, SD927 people, 9 miles
  • Shindler, SD (unincorporated)579 people, 12 miles
  • Larchwood, IA953 people, 13 miles
  • Hudson, SD342 people, 14 miles
  • Alvord, IA217 people, 14 miles
  • Rowena, SD (unincorporated)225 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.