Best PlacesLake Andes, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lake Andes, 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.
Lake Andes ranks 42,818th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lake Andes
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.
Lake Andes' strengths and weaknesses
Where Lake Andes ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute15.3 minutes each way, better than 97% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of towns
- Cheap childcare$569 a month, better than 83% of towns
Where Lake Andes ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of towns
- School gradeD−, better than only 4% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lake Andes
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lake Andes home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,365, 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 Lake Andes' effective rate of 0.77%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lake Andes
Lake Andes runs younger than the country, 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 Lake Andes.
Who works in Lake Andes, and how
Work in Lake Andes centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Lake Andes
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lake Andes.
What the weather is like in Lake Andes, month by month
Lake Andes sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 23° | 15° |
| April | 62° | 47° | 36° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Lake Andes
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 95 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 186 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lake Andes
Schools across Lake Andes average a D−, better than 4% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Platte - Geddes Elementary - 02A · 70% proficient
- Akron Westfield Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Andes Central Elementary - 02F · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Akron Westfield Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Platte - Geddes Jr. High - 03B− · 40% proficient
- Wagner Middle School - 03D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Akron Westfield Senior High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Wagner High School - 01A− · 60% proficient
- Platte - Geddes High School - 01D · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lake Andes school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lake Andes 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 Lake Andes against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lake Andes
Is Lake Andes a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lake Andes ranks 42,818th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, short commutes, and state infrastructure, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay 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 Lake Andes expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $133,430. The overall cost of living runs about 33% above the national average. Set against a $59,365 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Lake Andes safe?
Lake Andes is safer than 14% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $554 per resident a year.
Compare Lake Andes with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lake Andes. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lake Andes 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.
Lake Andes detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lake Andes: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lake Andes: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lake Andes: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lake Andes: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lake Andes 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.