Best PlacesCactus Flat, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cactus Flat, 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.
Cactus Flat ranks 34,510th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cactus Flat
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.
Cactus Flat's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cactus Flat ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 131 pleasant days a year, better than 85% of towns
- QuietBetter than 74% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 73% of towns
Where Cactus Flat ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cactus Flat
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cactus Flat home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,683, 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 Cactus Flat's effective rate of 0.76%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cactus Flat
Cactus Flat runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cactus Flat.
Who works in Cactus Flat, and how
Work in Cactus Flat centers on agriculture & forestry and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Cactus Flat
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cactus Flat.
What the weather is like in Cactus Flat, month by month
Cactus Flat sees roughly 131 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 22° | 11° |
| April | 63° | 45° | 30° |
| July | 94° | 76° | 59° |
| October | 65° | 48° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Cactus Flat
The nearest airport, Rapid City Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 325 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cactus Flat
Schools across Cactus Flat average a C+, better than 42% of towns.
Top middle schools
- Newcastle Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Wall Middle School - 06B− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Newcastle High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Wall High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cactus Flat school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cactus Flat 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 Cactus Flat against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cactus Flat
Is Cactus Flat a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cactus Flat ranks 34,510th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, state infrastructure, and the weather, and lowest on tree cover 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 Cactus Flat expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $159,838. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $66,683 median income, cost of living beats 29% of towns.
Is Cactus Flat safe?
Cactus Flat is safer than 20% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $499 per resident a year.
Compare Cactus Flat with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cactus Flat. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cactus Flat 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.
Cactus Flat detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cactus Flat: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cactus Flat: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cactus Flat: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cactus Flat: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cactus Flat 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.