Best PlacesHyde County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Hyde 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.
Hyde County ranks 1,312th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hyde 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.
Hyde County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hyde County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Short commute15.3 minutes each way, better than 95% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 88% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 88% of counties
Where Hyde County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 7% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Hyde County
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hyde County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,304, 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 Hyde 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 Hyde County
Hyde 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 Hyde County.
Who works in Hyde County, and how
Work in Hyde County 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 77%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Hyde County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hyde County.
Is Hyde County growing, and who is moving in?
Hyde County has lost about 13% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Hand County, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Hyde County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Hyde County, month by month
Hyde County sees roughly 127 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 20° | 12° |
| April | 60° | 45° | 33° |
| July | 90° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 62° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Hyde County
The nearest airport, Pierre Regional, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 286 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hyde County
Schools across Hyde County average a B+, better than 88% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Miller Elementary - 02A− · 60% proficient
- Hendricks ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Highmore Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Highmore Jr. High - 03A+ · 75% proficient
- Browns Valley MiddleC+ · 37% proficient
- Faulkton Middle School - 08D · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Hendricks Senior HighA · 75% proficient
- Highmore High School - 01A− · 60% proficient
- Faulkton High School - 01A− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hyde County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hyde 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 Hyde County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Hyde County
Is Hyde County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hyde County ranks 1,312th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, low taxes, and short commutes, 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 Hyde County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $182,943. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $73,304 median income, cost of living beats 68% of counties.
Is Hyde County safe?
Hyde County is safer than 12% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $614 per resident a year.
Compare Hyde County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hyde County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hyde 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.
Hyde County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hyde County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hyde County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hyde County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hyde County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hyde 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.