Webster, South Dakota.
Typical home $233,656 (+8.5% in a year).
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$594 (+94%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $18,208 +8%
- $215,448$233,656 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $21,605 +10%
- $212,051$233,656 since Sep 2021
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.
- Webster$1,226
- South Dakota$1,668
- United States$1,922
At the last five years' pace, a typical home here doubles in price every 36 years.
Typical home values in Webster, SD rose 8.5% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Webster, Day County, South Dakota
Webster is a city of 1,728 people in Day County. Half its households earn more than $55,179 a year and half less, against $66,033 across Day County; 15% of its people live below the poverty line. 67% of its homes are lived in by their owners and 33% are rented. Unemployment in Day County was 2.6% in August 2026, and the county had 0.6% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in shops, then schools and health care.
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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Webster is a small city and the seat of Day County in northeastern South Dakota. The people who live here tend to be somewhat older than in much of the country, and incomes run below the county's as a whole. Most homes are lived in by their owners, and fewer adults hold a four-year degree than you might find in larger cities. Winters are long, cold and snowy, with January the coldest month, while July brings warm summer days and a fair amount of rain and melted snow across the year.
Work. People in Webster work mostly in shops, in schools, hospitals and social care, in restaurants, hotels and entertainment, and in manufacturing. Across Day County, the largest workplaces include Webster Area Schools, Sanford Hospital Webster and RDO Equipment Company. Unemployment in the county is low and has barely changed from a year ago, and the number of jobs has edged up slightly.
Things to do. Water is the main draw around Webster. Antelope Lake, Rush Lake and Minnewasta Lake are all a short drive away, and Waubay Lake is close by as well. For a quieter day outdoors, Waubay National Wildlife Refuge is a protected area a longer drive off.
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- 891households
- 21%of adults have a degree
- 15%below the poverty line
- 7%work from home
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Day County had 1,966 jobs in 2025, 0.6% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 20° and lows near 2°; warmest in July, with highs near 81° and lows near 61°. About 43 inches of snow and 26 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Webster weather station, under a mile away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Day County
- Webster Area 18-5 SchoolsSchool district94FTE
- Waubay School District 18-3School district40FTE
- Sanford Hospital WebsterCritical access hospital39FTE
- Sun Dial ManorNursing homes39
- RDO Equipment CompanyCommercial and industrial machinery repair and maintenance31
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 3 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 133 people in all across the county; Webster 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
- Winter weatherVery high
- Strong windVery high
- Cold wavesVery high
- Ice stormsRelatively high
- TornadoesRelatively high
- WildfireRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Webster’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. 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 Day County.
Webster home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Webster$233,656
- South Dakota$317,874
- United States$366,157
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Webster15
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
- Webster6
Zip codes with a Webster address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Webster — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.