Best PlacesFruitdale, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Fruitdale, 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.
Fruitdale ranks 20,480th 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 Fruitdale
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.
Fruitdale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fruitdale ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap childcare$569 a month, better than 83% of towns
- Household income$92,677 median, better than 79% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 77% of towns
Where Fruitdale ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Fruitdale
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fruitdale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $92,677, 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 Fruitdale's effective rate of 0.80%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fruitdale
Fruitdale's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Fruitdale.
Who works in Fruitdale, and how
Work in Fruitdale centers on agriculture & forestry and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Fruitdale
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Fruitdale.
What the weather is like in Fruitdale, month by month
Fruitdale sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 27° | 18° |
| April | 55° | 42° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 59° | 47° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Fruitdale
The nearest airport, Rapid City Regional, is about 57 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 335 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fruitdale
Schools across Fruitdale average a C+, better than 43% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Newell Elementary - 02D+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Belle Fourche Middle School - 07C · 35% proficient
- Newell Middle School - 04F · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Belle Fourche High School - 01B · 50% proficient
- Newell High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fruitdale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fruitdale 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 Fruitdale against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Fruitdale
Is Fruitdale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fruitdale ranks 20,480th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, state infrastructure, and affordable childcare, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fruitdale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $296,105. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $92,677 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Fruitdale safe?
Fruitdale is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $401 per resident a year.
Compare Fruitdale with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fruitdale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fruitdale 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.
Fruitdale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fruitdale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fruitdale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fruitdale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fruitdale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fruitdale 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.