Best PlacesLeola, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Leola, 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.
Leola ranks 13,290th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Leola
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.
Leola's strengths and weaknesses
Where Leola ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 165 pleasant days a year, better than 96% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of towns
Where Leola ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 25% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Leola
A household needs to earn about $22,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Leola home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,289, 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 Leola's effective rate of 1.10%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Leola
Leola 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 Leola.
Who works in Leola, and how
Work in Leola centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Leola
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Leola.
What the weather is like in Leola, month by month
Leola sees roughly 165 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 23, with lows near 6. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 23° | 14° | 6° |
| April | 53° | 40° | 30° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 60° |
| October | 58° | 44° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Leola
The nearest airport, Aberdeen Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 284 miles away.
The best schools in and around Leola
Schools across Leola average a B−, better than 67% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Leola Elementary - 02A+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Leola Jr. High - 03D+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Leola school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Leola 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 Leola against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Leola
Is Leola a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Leola ranks 13,290th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, clean air, and low taxes, 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 Leola expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $80,654. The overall cost of living runs about 26% below the national average. Set against a $75,289 median income, cost of living beats 81% of towns.
Is Leola safe?
Leola is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $583 per resident a year.
Compare Leola with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Leola. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Leola 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.
Leola detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Leola: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Leola: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Leola: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Leola: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Leola 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.