Best PlacesOglala, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oglala, 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.
Oglala ranks 49,685th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oglala
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.
Oglala's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oglala ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute17.5 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- QuietBetter than 93% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
Where Oglala ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter 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$24,754 median, better than only 3% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Oglala
A household needs to earn about $14,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oglala home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $24,754, 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 Oglala's effective rate of 0.09%, 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 Oglala
Oglala 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 Oglala.
Who works in Oglala, and how
Work in Oglala centers on arts & entertainment and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Oglala
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Oglala.
What the weather is like in Oglala, month by month
Oglala sees roughly 133 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 24° | 11° |
| April | 63° | 45° | 30° |
| July | 93° | 75° | 58° |
| October | 66° | 47° | 32° |
Flying in and out of Oglala
The nearest airport, Rapid City Regional, is about 62 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 250 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oglala
Schools across Oglala average a D, better than 5% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rockyford School - 03F · 5% proficient
- Isna Wica OwayawaF · 3% proficient
- Wolf Creek School - 02F · 3% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newcastle Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Niobrara County High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Newcastle High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oglala school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oglala 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 Oglala against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Oglala
Is Oglala a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oglala ranks 49,685th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, low taxes, and short commutes, and lowest on thin health care access and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oglala expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $60,300. The overall cost of living runs about 8% above the national average. Set against a $24,754 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Oglala safe?
Oglala is safer than 1% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,186 per resident a year.
Compare Oglala with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oglala. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oglala 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.
Oglala detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oglala: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oglala: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oglala: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oglala: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oglala 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.