Best PlacesLyman County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lyman 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.
Lyman County ranks 1,984th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lyman 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.
Lyman County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lyman County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of counties
- 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 84% of counties
Where Lyman County ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 5% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lyman County
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lyman County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,339, 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 Lyman County's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lyman County
Lyman County 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 Lyman County.
Who works in Lyman County, and how
Work in Lyman County centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Lyman County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lyman County.
Is Lyman County growing, and who is moving in?
Lyman County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Brule County, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lyman County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lyman County, month by month
Lyman County sees roughly 130 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 13. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 21° | 13° |
| April | 60° | 46° | 35° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 63° | 49° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Lyman County
The nearest airport, Pierre Regional, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 267 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lyman County
Schools across Lyman County average a D+, better than 10% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- West Lyon Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Akron Westfield Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Hendricks ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Akron Westfield Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- West Lyon Junior High SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- West Sioux Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- West Lyon High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Hendricks Senior HighA · 75% proficient
- Akron Westfield Senior High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lyman County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lyman 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 Lyman County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Lyman County
Is Lyman County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lyman County ranks 1,984th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, low taxes, and short commutes, and lowest on civic engagement 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 Lyman County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $118,080. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $62,339 median income, cost of living beats 31% of counties.
Is Lyman County safe?
Lyman County is safer than 8% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $659 per resident a year.
Compare Lyman County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lyman County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lyman 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.
Lyman County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lyman County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lyman County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lyman County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lyman County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lyman 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.