Best PlacesGregory County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Gregory County, 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.
Gregory County ranks 1,360th 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 Gregory 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.
Gregory County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Gregory County ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Short commute15.8 minutes each way, better than 94% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 88% of counties
- QuietBetter than 86% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 78% of counties
Where Gregory County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 16% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Gregory County
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Gregory County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,071, 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 Gregory County's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Gregory County
Gregory County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Gregory County.
Who works in Gregory County, and how
Work in Gregory County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Gregory County
Gregory County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of counties and more parkland per resident than 96% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Gregory County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Gregory County growing, and who is moving in?
Gregory County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Kosciusko County, IN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Gregory County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Gregory County, month by month
Gregory County sees roughly 115 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 24° | 16° |
| April | 62° | 47° | 35° |
| July | 91° | 77° | 65° |
| October | 65° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Gregory County
The nearest airport, Pierre Regional, is about 97 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 216 miles away.
The best schools in and around Gregory County
Schools across Gregory County average a C, better than 39% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- West Lyon Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Akron Westfield Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Burke Elementary - 02D+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Akron Westfield Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- West Lyon Junior High SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Burke Middle School - 04D · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- West Lyon High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Akron Westfield Senior High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Gregory High School - 01A− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Gregory County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Gregory 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 Gregory County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Gregory County
Is Gregory County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Gregory County ranks 1,360th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low taxes, short commutes, and state infrastructure, and lowest on distance from a big city and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Gregory County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $141,060. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $63,071 median income, cost of living beats 44% of counties.
Is Gregory County safe?
Yes, Gregory County is safer than 61% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $353 per resident a year.
Compare Gregory County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Gregory County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Gregory 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.
Gregory County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Gregory County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Gregory County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Gregory County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Gregory County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Gregory 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.