Best PlacesWhite Owl, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around White Owl, 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.
White Owl ranks 17,819th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in White Owl
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.
White Owl's strengths and weaknesses
Where White Owl ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of towns
Where White Owl ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 12% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
Who lives in White Owl
White Owl 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 White Owl.
Who works in White Owl, and how
Work in White Owl centers on agriculture & forestry and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 48%
- Work from home 44%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in White Owl
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across White Owl.
What the weather is like in White Owl, month by month
White Owl sees roughly 135 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 11. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 20° | 11° |
| April | 58° | 42° | 30° |
| July | 90° | 74° | 59° |
| October | 62° | 46° | 34° |
Flying in and out of White Owl
The nearest airport, Rapid City Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 349 miles away.
The best schools in and around White Owl
Schools across White Owl average a B−, better than 60% of towns.
Top high schools
- Wall High School - 01C+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every White Owl school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
White Owl 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 White Owl against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in White Owl
Is White Owl a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, White Owl ranks 17,819th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, quiet, and population health, and lowest on tree cover 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 White Owl safe?
Yes, White Owl is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $297 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in White Owl?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 31 with lows near 11. That works out to about 135 pleasant days a year, more than 87% of towns.
Compare White Owl with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to White Owl. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in White Owl 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.
White Owl detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for White Owl: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in White Owl: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of White Owl: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in White Owl: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
White Owl 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.
- 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.