Best PlacesSoldier Creek, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Soldier Creek, 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.
Soldier Creek ranks 48,398th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Soldier Creek
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.
Soldier Creek's strengths and weaknesses
Where Soldier Creek ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute14.4 minutes each way, better than 98% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
Where Soldier Creek ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 1% of towns
- 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
What it costs to buy a home in Soldier Creek
A household needs to earn about $12,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Soldier Creek home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $46,916, 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 Soldier Creek's effective rate of 0.21%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Soldier Creek
Soldier Creek 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 Soldier Creek.
Who works in Soldier Creek, and how
Work in Soldier Creek centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Soldier Creek
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Soldier Creek.
What the weather is like in Soldier Creek, month by month
Soldier Creek sees roughly 104 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 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° | 24° | 12° |
| April | 64° | 47° | 31° |
| July | 93° | 76° | 61° |
| October | 68° | 49° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Soldier Creek
The nearest airport, Pierre Regional, is about 80 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 290 miles away.
The best schools in and around Soldier Creek
Schools across Soldier Creek average a B, better than 65% of towns.
Top middle schools
- Newcastle Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Newcastle High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Soldier Creek school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Soldier Creek 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 Soldier Creek against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Soldier Creek
Is Soldier Creek a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Soldier Creek ranks 48,398th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, short commutes, and low taxes, and lowest on crime and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Soldier Creek expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $51,739. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $46,916 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Soldier Creek safe?
Soldier Creek is safer than 1% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,211 per resident a year.
Compare Soldier Creek with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Soldier Creek. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Soldier Creek 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.
Soldier Creek detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Soldier Creek: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Soldier Creek: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Soldier Creek: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Soldier Creek: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Soldier Creek 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.