The 10 Most Boring Places In South Dakota For 2026

There’s no denying it: there are plenty of places in South Dakota that are downright beautiful and full of excitement.

Unfortunately, not all towns and cities in Mount Rushmore State are so lucky.

Just like in all U.S. States, there are definitely some boring places within South Dakota’s’ borders. You know the places where everyone has an AARP card and the most exciting thing they do all day is post a picture of their grandchild on Facebook.

Like Fort Pierre, for instance. In our latest analysis, we found that this city was the most boring city in all of Oklahoma according to Saturday Night Science. But don’t feel bad if you’re a resident of Fort Pierre. There are plenty of other boring, lackluster places in South Dakota as well.

Here they are. Try not to jump out of your seat with excitement.

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Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

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The 10 Most Boring Places In South Dakota

1. Fort Pierre
2. Hartford
3. Chamberlain
4. Milbank
5. Custer
6. Winner
7. Dell Rapids
8. Lennox
9. Canton
10. Pierre

Don’t freak out, in fact, believe it not, a boring city is actually one a lot of people would like to call home.

Before you get all upset if your city’s name is on the list, rest assured that we didn’t use personal opinion when it comes to what classifies a city or town as “boring” or “exciting”. We crunched actual numbers to figure out which towns are statistically more boring.

Showing this data to you is the kind of thing that a real estate agent knows, but would never share.

For more South Dakota reading, check out:

• Best Places To Live In South Dakota
• Safest Places To Live In South Dakota

The 10 Most Boring Places In South Dakota For 2026

1. Fort Pierre

Source: Wikipedia User Jeffrey Beall | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,410
Average Age: 44.2
% Married: 35.0%
More on Fort Pierre: Movers

2. Hartford

Source: Wikipedia User Jon Platek | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,478
Average Age: 39.5
% Married: 42.0%
More on Hartford: Data | Movers

3. Chamberlain

Source: Wikipedia User Anne Swoboda from Griffith, IN, USA | CC BY-SA 2.0

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,588
Average Age: 43.0
% Married: 31.0%
More on Chamberlain: Crime | Movers

4. Milbank

Source: Wikipedia User Joel Bradshaw | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,525
Average Age: 50.0
% Married: 31.0%
More on Milbank: Data | Movers

5. Custer

Source: Wikipedia User puroticorico | CC BY 2.0

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,341
Average Age: 51.2
% Married: 26.0%
More on Custer: Movers

6. Winner

Source: Public domain

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,905
Average Age: 43.6
% Married: 30.0%
More on Winner: Crime | Movers

7. Dell Rapids

Source: Wikipedia User AlexiusHoratius | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 3,905
Average Age: 39.3
% Married: 43.0%
More on Dell Rapids: Data | Movers

8. Lennox

Source: Wikipedia User Jon Platek | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,468
Average Age: 38.0
% Married: 34.0%
More on Lennox: Crime | Movers

9. Canton

Source: Wikipedia User AlexiusHoratius | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 3,033
Average Age: 42.2
% Married: 21.0%
More on Canton: Data | Crime | Movers

10. Pierre

Source: Wikipedia User Alanscottwalker | CC BY-SA 3.0

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 13,948
Average Age: 39.4
% Married: 26.0%
More on Pierre: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Movers

Methodology: How we determined the boring cities in the Mount Rushmore State

You would present the following case to your friends if you were argueing with them at a bar about the most boring place to live in South Dakota. And that’s why we call it Saturday Night Science.

Because our data speaks more truth than feelings.

To figure out how boring a place is, we factored in things we generally think make people exciting, and then we figure out which cities have the least number of those exciting people.

We used the U.S. American Community Census data to gather the information presented here. HSome of the things people tend to think of as making a city’s population boring include:

• % of Population Over 25 (higher is more boring)
• % of Married Household (higher is more boring)
• Average Age (higher is more boring)
• % of Households With Kids (higher is more boring)
• Population density (lower is more boring)

Then, our algorithm generates a ranking for each place in these categories. After crunching the numbers, all of the cities ranked from most boring to most exciting.

For this ranking, we used every South Dakota city with at least 2,000 residents. This keeps us from prejudicing our rankings by including very small pockets of retired people.

Grab your rocker and hold on.

We updated this article for 2026, and it’s our eleventh time ranking the most boring cities in South Dakota.

There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep

On a ranking like this, there are usually no winners, but since South Dakota isn’t necessarily the most boring state in the United States, the cities on this ranking can at least take solace that there are, in fact, more boring cities in the country.

The most boring cities in South Dakota are Fort Pierre, Hartford, Chamberlain, Milbank, Custer, Winner, Dell Rapids, Lennox, Canton, and Pierre.

If you’re also curious enough, here are the most exciting places in South Dakota, according to science:

1. Vermillion
2. Brookings
3. Sioux Falls

For more South Dakota reading, check out:

• Best Places To Live In South Dakota
• Cheapest Places To Live In South Dakota
• Most Dangerous Cities In South Dakota
• Richest Cities In South Dakota
• Safest Places In South Dakota
• Worst Places To Live In South Dakota
• Most Expensive Places To Live In South Dakota

Detailed List Of The Most Boring Cities In South Dakota For 2026