Key Rankings for Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls Skyline

Sioux Falls is considered one of America’s great small cities. For Augustana students, it's a laboratory for internships, clinical practice, student teaching, and part- and full-time employment. Learn what others are saying about Sioux Falls:

Key Rankings:

  • Personal finance site WalletHub ranked Sioux Falls as the 4th best city in America to find a job in 2015, with the lowest nationwide unemployment for those who hold bachelor’s degrees.
  • For twelve straight years, Sioux Falls has been identified within the top 5 in nation for “best small metro for business and careers," according to Forbes.com (2016).
  • In 2016, MSN Money ranked Sioux Falls #10 in this list of the 25 Most Livable Cities in the U.S.
  • MoneyRates.com ranks Sioux Falls #7 among Best Cities for Young Entrepreneurs and #6 among Cities with Affluential Young People.
  • WalletHub ranked Sioux Falls as the #1 best large city to start a business in 2016 and among the Top-10 Best Run Cities.
  • South Dakota is the nation’s “Top Moving Destination” in the 2017 40th annual United Van Lines Annual National Movers Study that tracks state-to-state migration pattern.
  • SmartAsset ranked Sioux Falls the second-best place in America to raise a child, based on metrics that would affect a child’s quality of life.
  • The City of Sioux Falls and Mayor Mike Huether were featured in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Free Enterprise online publication for "why people should move to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, a city with a booming job market, a very low cost of living, and a high quality of life."
  • Gallup’s annual “Well-Being Index” ranks South Dakota the No. 2 most content state in the U.S. and lists Sioux Falls among the top five small communities in the U.S.
  • The ranking organization “Happiest, Healthiest Cities In America” lists Sioux Falls at No. 9 nationwide.
  • Prevention.com tracks Sioux Falls at No. 1 in terms of people ranking their own health as “good or better.”  The city also got high marks for easy commutes, low crime and unemployment, and good access to health insurance.
  • TheStreet included Sioux Falls on its list of the 10 cities that best embody the American Dream, after looking at its employment data, home prices, livability, friendliness toward the business community and the economic stability of its business bases. (2011).
  • 92% of residents surveyed in Sioux Falls say the city is a good or excellent place to live, according to the National Citizen Survey, a professional research firm that collects survey data for approximately 500 cities (2010).
  • With an estimated population of 178,500, Sioux Falls has grown by 5,200 people — a 3 percent jump — since January 2016.
  • Sioux Falls was included in Fortune Small Business’ inaugural list of the 100 best places to live and launch. Cities were ranked on a range of criteria, including housing prices, schools, cultural and recreational attractions, quality of labor force, taxes and regulatory climate. The city was lauded for its business-friendly tax structure and ranked number 45 overall (2008).
  • CareerBuilder.com announced that Sioux Falls is the number one place in the U.S. to find a job (2008).
  • America’s Promise Alliance named Sioux Falls as one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People.
  • Forbes.com also ranks Sioux Falls as having the third cleanest water in the country (2008).
  • In December 2014, for instance, its 3.1% unemployment rate was 2.5 percentage points lower than the then-national rate of 5.6%.
  • Sioux Falls moved up the ranks in Inc.com’s best U.S. cities for doing business, coming in at number 51 overall and number 29 on the list of the top small cities (2008).
  • Insurance giant Allstate acknowledges the quality of life in Sioux Falls in their annual “America’s Best Drivers Report.” Sioux Falls has ranked number one for four straight years (2009).
  • South Dakota has the nation's most attractive tax system for small businesses and entrepreneurs, according to The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council's Business Tax Index 2009. The state was named in December 2009 as "the friendliest place for entrepreneurship."
  • Sioux Falls has been ranked in the top ten cities its size by a national consulting firm as one of the best places for young professionals to live and work. Next Generation Consulting (NGC) studied residential and relocation patterns of 20- to 40-year-olds and interviewed 39,000 young professionals to determine Sioux Falls ranked eighth among cities between 100,000 and 200,000 people. Cities were scored based on seven indexes: earning, learning, vitality, around town, after hours, cost of lifestyle, and social capital.

View the quality of life in Sioux Falls by seeing this video from the Sioux Falls Convention & Visitors Bureau.