Best PlacesElm Springs, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elm Springs, 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.
Elm Springs ranks 20,938th 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 Elm Springs
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.
Elm Springs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Elm Springs ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
Where Elm Springs ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 8% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 12% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
Who lives in Elm Springs
Elm Springs 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 Elm Springs.
Who works in Elm Springs, and how
Work in Elm Springs centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 48%
- Work from home 44%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Elm Springs
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Elm Springs.
What the weather is like in Elm Springs, month by month
Elm Springs sees roughly 92 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 26° | 14° |
| April | 60° | 44° | 31° |
| July | 90° | 75° | 60° |
| October | 65° | 48° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Elm Springs
The nearest airport, Rapid City Regional, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 327 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elm Springs
Schools across Elm Springs average a B−, better than 60% of towns.
Top high schools
- Wall High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Sturgis Brown High School - 01C− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elm Springs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elm Springs 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 Elm Springs against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Elm Springs
Is Elm Springs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elm Springs ranks 20,938th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, quiet, and population health, and lowest on distance from a big city and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elm Springs safe?
Yes, Elm Springs is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $297 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Elm Springs?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 14. That works out to about 92 pleasant days a year, more than 61% of towns.
Compare Elm Springs with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elm Springs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elm Springs 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.
Elm Springs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elm Springs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elm Springs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elm Springs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elm Springs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elm Springs 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.
- 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.