States · South Dakota · Deuel County

Clear Lake, South Dakota.

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What it costs per month · Clear Lake $1,668/mo

to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$895 (+116%) since Jan 2020.

Monthly payment to buy the typical home

Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.

$500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 South Dakota $1,668 United States $1,922
$500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 2002 2010 2018 2026
  • South Dakota$1,668
  • United States$1,922

Living in Clear Lake, Deuel County, South Dakota

Clear Lake is a city of 1,218 people in Deuel County. 73% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 27% are rented. Unemployment in Deuel County was 1.7% in August 2026, and the county had 0.4% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in manufacturing, then schools and health care.

People 1,218 in the 2020 census
Household income Too few homes in Clear Lake for the Census survey to measure.
Unemployment 1.7% Deuel County, August 2026; 2.2% a year before
Homes 73% lived in by their owners; 27% rented

Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.

What it’s like

The place. Clear Lake is a small city and the county seat of Deuel County, in eastern South Dakota. Most homes are lived in by their owners, and relatively few people live below the poverty line. Winters are cold and snowy, with January the coldest month, while summers are warm in July and the year brings a fair amount of rain and melted snow.

Work. Across Deuel County, unemployment is low and slightly lower than a year ago, though the county has a few fewer jobs than it did the year before. Residents of town work mainly in manufacturing, in schools, hospitals and social care, in shops, and in the building trades. Among the largest workplaces across the county are Deuel School District, Sanford Medical Center Clear Lake and Salona Global Medical Device. Very few people work from home.

Things to do. Clear Lake, the lake that gives the town its name, lies in or beside town. A short drive away are Lake Alice and Lake Francis, both lakes, and the West Branch Lac qui Parle River. Farther afield, a longer drive brings you to the Lac qui Parle River and to a scattering of other lakes.

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  • 519households
  • 26%of adults have a degree
  • 10%below the poverty line
  • 2%work from home

What residents work in

  • Manufacturing23%
  • Schools, hospitals and social care18%
  • Shops (retail)9%
  • Building trades9%
  • Restaurants, hotels and entertainment6%
  • Farming, forestry and mining6%

Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Deuel County had 1,530 jobs in 2025, 0.4% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Weather through the year

Average daily high and low for each month: coldest in January, 21° and 2°; warmest in July, 80° and 60° 0° 20° 40° 60° 80° J 21° 2° F M A M J J 80° 60° A S O N D
Average daily high and low for each month: coldest in January, 21° and 2°; warmest in July, 80° and 60° 0° 20° 40° 60° 80° J 21° 2° F M A M J J 80° 60° A S O N D

Coldest in January, with highs near 21° and lows near 2°; warmest in July, with highs near 80° and lows near 60°. About 61 inches of snow and 27 inches of rain and melted snow a year.

Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Clear Lake weather station, under a mile away (NOAA).

Largest workplaces in Deuel County

  1. Tech Ord A Division of AMTECExplosives manufacturing176
  2. Deuel School District 19-4School district86FTE
  3. Salona Global Medical DeviceElectromedical equipment manufacturing38
  4. Agri PartnersBeans, dry, merchant wholesalers36
  5. Sanford Medical Center Clear LakeCritical access hospital35FTE
  6. Clear Lake-TechElectromedical therapy equipment manufacturing32
  7. H-D Electric Cooperative-Clear LakeDistribution of electric power23

Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 6 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 377 people in all across the county; Clear Lake has two of its own. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24) and hospitals from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.

Natural hazards

  1. Winter weatherRelatively high
  2. Ice stormsRelatively high
  3. Cold wavesRelatively high
  4. WildfireRelatively moderate
  5. Strong windRelatively moderate
  6. TornadoesRelatively moderate

FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Clear Lake’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively low. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.

From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Deuel County.

Clear Lake home values

Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.

Not enough data to draw this yet.

Market heat, inside the city limits

Homes for sale

Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.

5 8 10 12 2025 2026 Clear Lake 6
5 8 10 12 2025 2026
  • Clear Lake6

Zip codes with a Clear Lake address

A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Clear Lake — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.

Zillow publishes no zip-level series with this city on the address.