Best PlacesFall River County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Fall River 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.
Fall River County ranks 1,860th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Fall River 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.
Fall River County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fall River County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 88% of counties
- Short commute19.5 minutes each way, better than 81% of counties
- Cheap childcare$569 a month, better than 78% of counties
Where Fall River County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 17% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 17% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 21% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Fall River County
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fall River County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,461, 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 Fall River County's effective rate of 1.03%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fall River County
Fall River County 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 Fall River County.
Who works in Fall River County, and how
Work in Fall River County centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Fall River County
Fall River County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 86% of counties and more parkland per resident than 88% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Fall River County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Fall River County growing, and who is moving in?
Fall River County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Douglas County, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Fall River County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Fall River County, month by month
Fall River County sees roughly 116 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 Fall River County
The nearest airport, Rapid City Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 251 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fall River County
Schools across Fall River County average a C, better than 44% of counties.
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
- Hot Springs High School - 01C− · 30% proficient
- Edgemont High School - 01D+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fall River County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fall River 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 Fall River County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Fall River County
Is Fall River County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fall River County ranks 1,860th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, health care access, and state infrastructure, 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 Fall River County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $195,013. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $69,461 median income, cost of living beats 38% of counties.
Is Fall River County safe?
Fall River County is safer than 21% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $510 per resident a year.
Compare Fall River County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fall River County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fall River 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.
Fall River County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fall River County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fall River County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fall River County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fall River County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fall River 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.