Best PlacesTimber Lake, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Timber Lake, 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.
Timber Lake ranks 18,975th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Timber Lake
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.
Timber Lake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Timber Lake ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 98% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of towns
Where Timber Lake ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 5% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 9% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Timber Lake
A household needs to earn about $21,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Timber Lake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,282, 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 Timber Lake's effective rate of 1.15%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Timber Lake
Timber Lake runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Timber Lake.
Who works in Timber Lake, and how
Work in Timber Lake centers on education and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Timber Lake
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Timber Lake.
What the weather is like in Timber Lake, month by month
Timber Lake sees roughly 137 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 18° | 10° |
| April | 59° | 44° | 32° |
| July | 89° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 62° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Timber Lake
The nearest airport, Pierre Regional, is about 82 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Minneapolis-St Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain, about 385 miles away.
The best schools in and around Timber Lake
Schools across Timber Lake average a B−, better than 64% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sundance ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Timber Lake Elementary - 02B− · 40% proficient
- Mclaughlin Elementary - 02F · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Timber Lake Middle School - 03B− · 40% proficient
- Mclaughlin Middle School - 03F · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- Timber Lake High School - 01A− · 60% proficient
- Sundance Secondary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Mclaughlin High School - 01F · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Timber Lake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Timber Lake 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 Timber Lake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Timber Lake
Is Timber Lake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Timber Lake ranks 18,975th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, low taxes, and quiet, 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 Timber Lake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $78,115. The overall cost of living runs about 26% below the national average. Set against a $63,282 median income, cost of living beats 53% of towns.
Is Timber Lake safe?
Timber Lake is safer than 12% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $598 per resident a year.
Compare Timber Lake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Timber Lake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Timber Lake 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.
Timber Lake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Timber Lake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Timber Lake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Timber Lake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Timber Lake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Timber Lake 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.