Best PlacesFerney, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ferney, 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.
Ferney ranks 9,493rd 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 Ferney
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.
Ferney's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ferney ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 96% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 88% of towns
Where Ferney ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ferney
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ferney home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $100,369, 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 Ferney's effective rate of 0.93%, 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 Ferney
Ferney 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 Ferney.
Who works in Ferney, and how
Work in Ferney centers on agriculture & forestry and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Ferney
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ferney.
What the weather is like in Ferney, month by month
Ferney sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 5. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 15° | 5° |
| April | 58° | 43° | 29° |
| July | 88° | 73° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 47° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Ferney
The nearest airport, Aberdeen Regional, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 239 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ferney
Schools across Ferney average a B, better than 67% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Groton Area Elementary - 02A− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Groton Area Middle School - 04B+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Groton Area High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ferney school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ferney 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 Ferney against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ferney
Is Ferney a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ferney ranks 9,493rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, clean air, and what local pay buys, 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 Ferney expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $234,345. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $100,369 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Ferney safe?
Yes, Ferney is safer than 66% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $279 per resident a year.
Compare Ferney with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ferney. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ferney 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.
Ferney detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ferney: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ferney: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ferney: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ferney: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ferney 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.