Best PlacesBennett County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Bennett County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bennett County ranks 2,606th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bennett County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Bennett County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bennett County ranks high
- Short commute12.0 minutes each way, better than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- QuietBetter than 90% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 88% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 137 pleasant days a year, better than 86% of counties
Where Bennett County ranks low
- School gradeD−, better than only 3% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Bennett County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bennett County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,937, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Bennett County's effective rate of 0.95%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bennett County
Bennett County runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bennett County.
Who works in Bennett County, and how
Work in Bennett County centers on education and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Bennett County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bennett County.
Is Bennett County growing, and who is moving in?
Bennett County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Rapid City, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Bennett County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Bennett County, month by month
Bennett County sees roughly 137 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 25° | 13° |
| April | 61° | 44° | 29° |
| July | 90° | 73° | 57° |
| October | 63° | 46° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Bennett County
The nearest airport, Rapid City Regional, is about 86 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 275 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bennett County
Schools across Bennett County average a D−, better than 3% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Martin Elementary - 03D− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newcastle Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Bennett County Middle School - 06F · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Newcastle High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Bennett County High School - 01D · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bennett County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bennett County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Bennett County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Bennett County
Is Bennett County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bennett County ranks 2,606th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on short commutes, low taxes, and quiet, and lowest on the schools and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bennett County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $157,697. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $56,937 median income, cost of living beats 8% of counties.
Is Bennett County safe?
Bennett County is safer than 6% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $689 per resident a year.
Compare Bennett County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bennett County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bennett County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Bennett County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bennett County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bennett County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bennett County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bennett County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bennett County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.