Best PlacesStone Bridge, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stone Bridge, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Stone Bridge ranks 10,686th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stone Bridge
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.
Stone Bridge's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stone Bridge ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 87% of towns
Where Stone Bridge ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 10% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Stone Bridge
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stone Bridge home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,578, 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 Stone Bridge's effective rate of 1.01%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Stone Bridge
Stone Bridge's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Stone Bridge.
Who works in Stone Bridge, and how
Work in Stone Bridge centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Stone Bridge
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Stone Bridge.
What the weather is like in Stone Bridge, month by month
Stone Bridge sees roughly 126 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 24, with lows near 6. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 24° | 14° | 6° |
| April | 54° | 42° | 32° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 61° |
| October | 58° | 46° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Stone Bridge
The nearest airport, Watertown Regional, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 189 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stone Bridge
Schools across Stone Bridge average a C+, better than 43% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Castlewood Elementary - 02A− · 60% proficient
- Hamlin Elementary - 09B− · 40% proficient
- Estelline Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Estelline Middle School - 03B− · 40% proficient
- Hamlin Middle School - 02C− · 30% proficient
- Castlewood Middle School - 03D · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Castlewood High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Hamlin High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
- Estelline High School - 01D+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stone Bridge school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stone Bridge 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 Stone Bridge against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Stone Bridge
Is Stone Bridge a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stone Bridge ranks 10,686th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, low taxes, and state infrastructure, and lowest on biking 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 Stone Bridge expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $189,700. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $82,578 median income, cost of living beats 54% of towns.
Is Stone Bridge safe?
Yes, Stone Bridge is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $155 per resident a year.
Compare Stone Bridge with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stone Bridge. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stone Bridge 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.
Stone Bridge detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stone Bridge: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stone Bridge: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stone Bridge: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stone Bridge: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stone Bridge 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.