Best PlacesEdgemont, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Edgemont, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Edgemont ranks 30,464th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Edgemont
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.
Edgemont's strengths and weaknesses
Where Edgemont ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of towns
- Cheap childcare$569 a month, better than 83% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 117 pleasant days a year, better than 78% of towns
Where Edgemont ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Edgemont
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Edgemont home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,057, 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 Edgemont's effective rate of 0.91%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Edgemont
Edgemont runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Edgemont.
Who works in Edgemont, and how
Work in Edgemont centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Edgemont
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Edgemont.
What the weather is like in Edgemont, month by month
Edgemont sees roughly 117 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 26° | 14° |
| April | 54° | 39° | 26° |
| July | 83° | 68° | 53° |
| October | 58° | 44° | 31° |
Flying in and out of Edgemont
The nearest airport, Rapid City Regional, is about 61 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 247 miles away.
The best schools in and around Edgemont
Schools across Edgemont average a C−, better than 22% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hot Springs Elementary - 02C · 35% proficient
- Lusk ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
- Oelrichs Elementary - 02D+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hot Springs Middle School - 06B+ · 50% proficient
- Lusk Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Oelrichs Jr. High - 03D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Niobrara County High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Custer High School - 01B− · 45% proficient
- Hot Springs High School - 01C− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Edgemont school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Edgemont 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 Edgemont against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Edgemont
Is Edgemont a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Edgemont ranks 30,464th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, state infrastructure, and health care access, and lowest on distance from a big city and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Edgemont expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $171,148. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $79,057 median income, cost of living beats 69% of towns.
Is Edgemont safe?
Edgemont is safer than 44% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $363 per resident a year.
Compare Edgemont with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Edgemont. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Edgemont 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.
Edgemont detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Edgemont: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Edgemont: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Edgemont: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Edgemont: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Edgemont 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.