Best PlacesNorris, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Norris, 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.
Norris ranks 44,865th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Norris
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.
Norris' strengths and weaknesses
Where Norris ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Short commute19.7 minutes each way, better than 89% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 125 pleasant days a year, better than 83% of towns
Where Norris ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$33,388 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Norris
A household needs to earn about $12,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Norris home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $33,388, 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 Norris' effective rate of 0.63%, 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 Norris
Norris 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 Norris.
Who works in Norris, and how
Work in Norris centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 66%
- Work from home 29%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Norris
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Norris.
What the weather is like in Norris, month by month
Norris sees roughly 125 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 22° | 11° |
| April | 63° | 45° | 30° |
| July | 94° | 76° | 59° |
| October | 65° | 48° | 34° |
Flying in and out of Norris
The nearest airport, Pierre Regional, is about 79 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 306 miles away.
The best schools in and around Norris
Schools across Norris average a B−, better than 60% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Martin Elementary - 03D− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newcastle Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Bennett County Middle School - 06F · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Newcastle High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Bennett County High School - 01D · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Norris school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Norris 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 Norris against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Norris
Is Norris a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Norris ranks 44,865th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, quiet, and state infrastructure, and lowest on a weak job market and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Norris expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $46,008. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $33,388 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Norris safe?
Norris is safer than 8% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $662 per resident a year.
Compare Norris with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Norris. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Norris 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.
Norris detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Norris: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Norris: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Norris: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Norris: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Norris 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.