Best PlacesStanley County, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Stanley County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Stanley County ranks 261st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stanley County
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.
Stanley County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stanley County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 98% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 97% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 91% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 90% of counties
Where Stanley County ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 31% of counties
- TransitBetter than only 35% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Stanley County
A household needs to earn about $79,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stanley County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $89,532, 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 Stanley County's effective rate of 1.11%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Stanley County
Stanley County 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 Stanley County.
Who works in Stanley County, and how
Work in Stanley County centers on public administration and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Stanley County
Stanley County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Stanley County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Stanley County growing, and who is moving in?
Stanley County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Hughes County, SD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Stanley County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Stanley County, month by month
Stanley County sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 20° | 12° |
| April | 60° | 45° | 33° |
| July | 90° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 62° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Stanley County
The nearest airport, Pierre Regional, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 313 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stanley County
Schools across Stanley County average a C+, better than 56% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Stanley County Elementary - 08A− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newcastle Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Stanley County Middle School - 02B− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Newcastle High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Stanley County High School - 01D · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stanley County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stanley County 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 Stanley County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Stanley County
Is Stanley County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stanley County ranks 261st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, a strong job market, and low taxes, 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 Stanley County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $291,336. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $89,532 median income, cost of living beats 91% of counties.
Is Stanley County safe?
Yes, Stanley County is safer than 68% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $338 per resident a year.
Compare Stanley County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stanley County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stanley County 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.
Stanley County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stanley County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stanley County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stanley County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stanley County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stanley County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.