Best PlacesSpringfield, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Springfield, 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.
Springfield ranks 18,367th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Springfield
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.
Springfield's strengths and weaknesses
Where Springfield ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of towns
Where Springfield ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 12% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 18% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Springfield
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Springfield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,957, 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 Springfield's effective rate of 1.05%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Springfield
Springfield's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Springfield.
Who works in Springfield, and how
Work in Springfield centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Springfield
Springfield has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Springfield and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Springfield, month by month
Springfield sees roughly 120 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 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 | 61° | 47° | 37° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 64° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Springfield
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 77 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 149 miles away.
The best schools in and around Springfield
Schools across Springfield average an A, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Akron Westfield Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Avon Elementary - 02D+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Akron Westfield Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Avon Middle School - 05B− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Akron Westfield Senior High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Avon High School - 01A− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Springfield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Springfield 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 Springfield against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Springfield
Is Springfield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Springfield ranks 18,367th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, good schools, and state infrastructure, and lowest on civic engagement 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 Springfield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $132,872. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $63,957 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Springfield safe?
Springfield is safer than 30% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $417 per resident a year.
Compare Springfield with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Springfield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Springfield 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.
Springfield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Springfield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Springfield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Springfield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Springfield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Springfield 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.