Best PlacesOelrichs, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oelrichs, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Oelrichs ranks 34,141st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oelrichs
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.
Oelrichs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Oelrichs ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 126 pleasant days a year, better than 83% of towns
- Cheap childcare$569 a month, better than 83% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 82% of towns
Where Oelrichs ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 20% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Oelrichs
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oelrichs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,513, 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 Oelrichs' effective rate of 0.86%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Oelrichs
Oelrichs 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 Oelrichs.
Who works in Oelrichs, and how
Work in Oelrichs centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Oelrichs
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Oelrichs.
What the weather is like in Oelrichs, month by month
Oelrichs sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 25° | 12° |
| April | 64° | 45° | 30° |
| July | 95° | 76° | 58° |
| October | 67° | 48° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Oelrichs
The nearest airport, Rapid City Regional, is about 60 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 242 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oelrichs
Schools across Oelrichs average a C−, better than 28% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Oelrichs Elementary - 02D+ · 25% proficient
- Wolf Creek School - 02F · 3% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newcastle Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Oelrichs Jr. High - 03D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Newcastle High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Oelrichs High School - 01D+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oelrichs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oelrichs 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 Oelrichs against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Oelrichs
Is Oelrichs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oelrichs ranks 34,141st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, state infrastructure, and the weather, and lowest on tree cover 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 Oelrichs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $113,000. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $66,513 median income, cost of living beats 29% of towns.
Is Oelrichs safe?
Oelrichs is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $430 per resident a year.
Compare Oelrichs with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oelrichs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oelrichs 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.
Oelrichs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oelrichs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oelrichs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oelrichs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oelrichs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oelrichs 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.