Best PlacesGalena, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Galena, 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.
Galena ranks 31,232nd 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 Galena
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.
Galena's strengths and weaknesses
Where Galena ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 83% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 118 pleasant days a year, better than 79% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 71% of towns
Where Galena ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 16% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Galena
A household needs to earn about $97,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Galena home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $64,439, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Galena's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 Galena
Galena 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 Galena.
Who works in Galena, and how
Work in Galena centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Galena
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Galena.
What the weather is like in Galena, month by month
Galena sees roughly 118 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 Galena
The nearest airport, Rapid City Regional, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 314 miles away.
The best schools in and around Galena
Schools across Galena average a C+, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Whitewood Elementary - 04A+ · 75% proficient
- Lead-deadwood Elementary - 03C− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sturgis Williams Middle School - 02B · 45% proficient
- Lead-deadwood Middle School - 02C− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Lead-deadwood High School - 01C− · 30% proficient
- Sturgis Brown High School - 01C− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Galena school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Galena 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 Galena against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Galena
Is Galena a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Galena ranks 31,232nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, state infrastructure, and a strong job market, and lowest on distance from a big city and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Galena expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $377,071. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $64,439 median income, cost of living beats 30% of towns.
Is Galena safe?
Yes, Galena is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $346 per resident a year.
Compare Galena with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Galena. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Galena 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.
Galena detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Galena: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Galena: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Galena: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Galena: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Galena 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.