States · South Dakota · Miner County

Howard, South Dakota.

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What it costs per month · Howard $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 Howard, Miner County, South Dakota

Howard is a city of 848 people in Miner County. Half its households earn more than $60,313 a year and half less, against $76,140 across Miner County; 20% of its people live below the poverty line. 77% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 23% are rented. Unemployment in Miner County was 2.1% in August 2026, and the county had 3.5% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in schools and health care, then shops.

People 848 in the 2020 census
Household income $60,313 the median, give or take $11,864 · Miner County: $76,140
Unemployment 2.1% Miner County, August 2026; 1.8% a year before
Homes 77% lived in by their owners; 23% 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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Howard is a small city in Miner County, South Dakota, and most homes here are lived in by their owners. Household incomes run below the county's, and a four-year degree is less common among adults than in many places. Winters are cold and snowy, with January the coldest month, and summers turn properly warm by July, with a fair amount of rain and melted snow through the year.

Work. Residents work mainly in schools, hospitals and social care, in shops, in manufacturing, and in farming, forestry and mining. Across Miner County, some of the largest workplaces are Good Samaritan Society Howard, a nursing home, and the Howard School District. Howard Farmers Coop Assn, which treats soil for crops, is also among them. Unemployment in the county is low and has risen only slightly over the past year, though the county has fewer jobs than it did a year earlier.

Things to do. Lakes are the main draw nearby. Silver Lake and Lake Winfred are both a short drive away, and Bitter Lake is a longer drive. Lake Herman State Park, a protected area, is also a longer drive from town.

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  • 387households
  • 14%of adults have a degree
  • 20%below the poverty line
  • 8%work from home

What residents work in

  • Schools, hospitals and social care28%
  • Shops (retail)16%
  • Manufacturing14%
  • Farming, forestry and mining8%
  • Transport, warehouses and utilities7%
  • Other services7%

Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Miner County had 777 jobs in 2025, 3.5% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Weather through the year

Average daily high and low for each month: coldest in January, 29° and 5°; warmest in July, 87° and 60° 0° 20° 40° 60° 80° J 29° 5° F M A M J J 87° 60° A S O N D
Average daily high and low for each month: coldest in January, 29° and 5°; warmest in July, 87° and 60° 0° 20° 40° 60° 80° J 29° 5° F M A M J J 87° 60° A S O N D

Coldest in January, with highs near 29° and lows near 5°; warmest in July, with highs near 87° and lows near 60°. About 36 inches of snow and 26 inches of rain and melted snow a year.

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

Largest workplaces in Miner County

  1. Good Samaritan Society HowardNursing homes65
  2. Howard School District 48-3School district61FTE
  3. Howard Farmers Coop AssnChemical treatment of soil for crops31
  4. Miner County Pork Sow FarmHog and pig farming22

Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 3 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 118 people in all across the county; Howard has two of its own. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); 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 weatherVery high
  2. Cold wavesVery high
  3. Ice stormsVery high
  4. TornadoesVery high
  5. DroughtRelatively high
  6. HailRelatively high

FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Howard’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively high. 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 Miner County.

Howard 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 6 7 8 2026 Howard 8
5 6 7 8 2026
  • Howard8

Zip codes with a Howard address

A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Howard — 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.