Best PlacesSpring Valley Colony, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Spring Valley Colony, 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.
Spring Valley Colony ranks 24,975th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Spring Valley Colony
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.
Spring Valley Colony's strengths and weaknesses
Where Spring Valley Colony ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute17.8 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
Where Spring Valley Colony ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 10% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Spring Valley Colony
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Spring Valley Colony home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,214, 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 Spring Valley Colony's effective rate of 0.41%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Spring Valley Colony
Spring Valley Colony runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Spring Valley Colony.
Who works in Spring Valley Colony, and how
Work in Spring Valley Colony centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Spring Valley Colony
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Spring Valley Colony.
What the weather is like in Spring Valley Colony, month by month
Spring Valley Colony sees roughly 122 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 Spring Valley Colony
The nearest airport, Pierre Regional, is about 70 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 246 miles away.
The best schools in and around Spring Valley Colony
Schools across Spring Valley Colony average a B−, better than 58% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wessington Springs Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
- Spring Valley Colony Elementary - 05D+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Kimball Middle School - 04B+ · 50% proficient
- Wessington Springs Jr. High - 04F · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Wessington Springs High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Kimball High School - 01D+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Spring Valley Colony school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Spring Valley Colony 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 Spring Valley Colony against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Spring Valley Colony
Is Spring Valley Colony a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Spring Valley Colony ranks 24,975th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, a strong job market, and low taxes, 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 Spring Valley Colony expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $139,170. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $60,214 median income, cost of living beats 27% of towns.
Is Spring Valley Colony safe?
Spring Valley Colony is safer than 9% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $725 per resident a year.
Compare Spring Valley Colony with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Spring Valley Colony. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Spring Valley Colony 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.
Spring Valley Colony detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Spring Valley Colony: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Spring Valley Colony: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Spring Valley Colony: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Spring Valley Colony: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Spring Valley Colony 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.