Best PlacesBuffalo Ridge, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Buffalo Ridge, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Buffalo Ridge ranks 1,417th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Buffalo Ridge
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.
Buffalo Ridge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Buffalo Ridge ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of towns
- Household income$121,861 median, better than 94% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 93% of towns
Where Buffalo Ridge ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 23% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 33% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Buffalo Ridge
A household needs to earn about $108,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Buffalo Ridge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $121,861, 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 Buffalo Ridge's effective rate of 1.18%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Buffalo Ridge
Buffalo Ridge runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Buffalo Ridge.
Who works in Buffalo Ridge, and how
Work in Buffalo Ridge centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Buffalo Ridge
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Buffalo Ridge.
What the weather is like in Buffalo Ridge, month by month
Buffalo Ridge sees roughly 107 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 19° | 9° |
| April | 62° | 47° | 34° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 62° |
| October | 65° | 50° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Buffalo Ridge
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 162 miles away.
The best schools in and around Buffalo Ridge
Schools across Buffalo Ridge average a B, better than 72% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- West Lyon Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Parker Elementary - 02B · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Lyon Junior High SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- West Central Middle School - 04C · 35% proficient
- Lennox Intermediate - 09C · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- West Lyon High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Parker High School - 01A− · 60% proficient
- West Central High School - 01B · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Buffalo Ridge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Buffalo Ridge 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 Buffalo Ridge against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Buffalo Ridge
Is Buffalo Ridge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Buffalo Ridge ranks 1,417th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, low taxes, and what local pay buys, and lowest on tree cover and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Buffalo Ridge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $394,467. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $121,861 median income, cost of living beats 97% of towns.
Is Buffalo Ridge safe?
Yes, Buffalo Ridge is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $145 per resident a year.
Compare Buffalo Ridge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Buffalo Ridge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Buffalo Ridge 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.
Buffalo Ridge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Buffalo Ridge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Buffalo Ridge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Buffalo Ridge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Buffalo Ridge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Buffalo Ridge 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.
- 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.