Best PlacesSmithwick, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Smithwick, 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.
Smithwick ranks 31,624th 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 Smithwick
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.
Smithwick's strengths and weaknesses
Where Smithwick ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 84% of towns
- Cheap childcare$569 a month, better than 83% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 82% of towns
Where Smithwick ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Smithwick
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Smithwick home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,113, 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 Smithwick's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 Smithwick
Smithwick 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 Smithwick.
Who works in Smithwick, and how
Work in Smithwick 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 73%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Smithwick
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Smithwick.
What the weather is like in Smithwick, month by month
Smithwick sees roughly 122 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 Smithwick
The nearest airport, Rapid City Regional, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 248 miles away.
The best schools in and around Smithwick
Schools across Smithwick average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hot Springs Elementary - 02C · 35% proficient
- Oelrichs Elementary - 02D+ · 25% proficient
- Rockyford School - 03F · 5% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hot Springs Middle School - 06B+ · 50% proficient
- Oelrichs Jr. High - 03D+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Newcastle High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Hot Springs High School - 01C− · 30% proficient
- Oelrichs High School - 01D+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Smithwick school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Smithwick 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 Smithwick against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Smithwick
Is Smithwick a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Smithwick ranks 31,624th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, state infrastructure, and health care access, 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 Smithwick expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $134,304. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $74,113 median income, cost of living beats 48% of towns.
Is Smithwick safe?
Smithwick is safer than 51% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $346 per resident a year.
Compare Smithwick with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Smithwick. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Smithwick 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.
Smithwick detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Smithwick: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Smithwick: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Smithwick: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Smithwick: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Smithwick 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.