Best PlacesNemo, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Nemo, 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.
Nemo ranks 42,161st of 50,333 U.S. towns 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 Nemo
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.
Nemo's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nemo ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Short commute20.9 minutes each way, better than 84% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 108 pleasant days a year, better than 73% of towns
- Cheap childcare$666 a month, better than 70% of towns
Where Nemo ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Nemo
A household needs to earn about $113,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nemo home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $55,765, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Nemo's effective rate of 0.63%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Nemo
Nemo 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 Nemo.
Who works in Nemo, and how
Work in Nemo centers on retail trade and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Nemo
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Nemo.
What the weather is like in Nemo, month by month
Nemo sees roughly 108 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 26° | 14° |
| April | 60° | 44° | 31° |
| July | 90° | 75° | 60° |
| October | 65° | 48° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Nemo
The nearest airport, Rapid City Regional, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 305 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nemo
Schools across Nemo average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pinedale Elementary - 11B · 45% proficient
- Lead-deadwood Elementary - 03C− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newcastle Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Sturgis Williams Middle School - 02B · 45% proficient
- Lead-deadwood Middle School - 02C− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Newcastle High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Lead-deadwood High School - 01C− · 30% proficient
- Sturgis Brown High School - 01C− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nemo school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nemo 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 Nemo against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Nemo
Is Nemo a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nemo ranks 42,161st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, state infrastructure, and short commutes, and lowest on distance from a big city and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nemo expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $442,223. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $55,765 median income, cost of living beats 19% of towns.
Is Nemo safe?
Nemo is safer than 21% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $584 per resident a year.
Compare Nemo with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nemo. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nemo 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.
Nemo detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nemo: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nemo: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nemo: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nemo: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nemo 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.