Best PlacesOla, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ola, 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.
Ola ranks 24,390th 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 Ola
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.
Ola's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ola ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute16.6 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 91% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of towns
Where Ola ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 4% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 8% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ola
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ola home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $67,083, 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 Ola's effective rate of 0.63%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Ola
Ola runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ola.
Who works in Ola, and how
Work in Ola centers on agriculture & forestry and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 56%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 27%
Life in Ola
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ola.
What the weather is like in Ola, month by month
Ola sees roughly 126 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 Ola
The nearest airport, Pierre Regional, is about 77 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 231 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ola
Schools across Ola average a C+, better than 57% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- West Lyon Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Chamberlain Elementary - 03C− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Lyon Junior High SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Kimball Middle School - 04B+ · 50% proficient
- Platte - Geddes Jr. High - 03B− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- West Lyon High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Chamberlain High School - 01C− · 30% proficient
- Kimball High School - 01D+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ola school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ola 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 Ola against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ola
Is Ola a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ola ranks 24,390th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, short commutes, and a strong job market, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ola expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $324,700. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $67,083 median income, cost of living beats 39% of towns.
Is Ola safe?
Ola is safer than 28% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $450 per resident a year.
Compare Ola with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ola. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ola 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.
Ola detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ola: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ola: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ola: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ola: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ola 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.