Best PlacesValley Springs, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Valley Springs, 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.
Valley Springs ranks 7,542nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Valley Springs
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.
Valley Springs' strengths and weaknesses
Where Valley Springs ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 96% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of towns
Where Valley Springs ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 14% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 18% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 23% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Valley Springs
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Valley Springs home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $101,935, 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 Valley Springs' effective rate of 1.06%, 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 Valley Springs
Valley Springs runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Valley Springs.
Who works in Valley Springs, and how
Work in Valley Springs centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Valley Springs
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Valley Springs.
What the weather is like in Valley Springs, month by month
Valley Springs sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 26, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 26° | 18° | 10° |
| April | 57° | 44° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 61° |
| October | 60° | 47° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Valley Springs
The nearest airport, Joe Foss Field, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 161 miles away.
The best schools in and around Valley Springs
Schools across Valley Springs average an A−, better than 81% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Garretson Elementary - 02D · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brandon Valley Intermediate - 07A− · 54% proficient
- Garretson Middle School - 03C− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Brandon Valley High School - 01A · 68% proficient
- Garretson High School - 01C− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Valley Springs school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Valley Springs 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 Valley Springs against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Valley Springs
Is Valley Springs a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Valley Springs ranks 7,542nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, low taxes, and a strong job market, and lowest on noise and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Valley Springs expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $261,022. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $101,935 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is Valley Springs safe?
Valley Springs is safer than 15% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $583 per resident a year.
Compare Valley Springs with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Valley Springs. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Valley Springs 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.
Valley Springs detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Valley Springs: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Valley Springs: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Valley Springs: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Valley Springs: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Valley Springs 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.