Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Spearfish grades B− overall, 22nd of 35 graded towns in South Dakota, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Residents are healthier than 84% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and it has 26 miles of trail. It also does better than most on schools: its schools rank ahead of 69% of South Dakota towns. Its lowest everyday mark is in safety: its police reported 33 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 70% of U.S. towns. A typical home there costs about $451K, 6.1 years of the Spearfish area’s $73K median household income. 46% of working residents work locally in Spearfish, above both the South Dakota town median (29%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Frawley Historic Ranch and Spearfish Fisheries Center. On walkability, just 5 of South Dakota’s 85 towns do better.
Where Spearfish beats most towns.
Frawley Historic Ranch is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 170 in 1880, 12,193 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 2 maps from 1961 on.
30 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Dakota), ordered by how far Spearfish is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Spearfish, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Spearfish.
Spearfish is one of South Dakota’s best towns for the outdoors and has colder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of South Dakota; it also has homes that cost more against local pay than most of South Dakota.
Its A for the outdoors ranks #1 of 35 in South Dakota.
The trail density in Spearfish is 1.5 miles per square mile. Only 3 of the 32 South Dakota towns we compare have a higher share of conserved land than Spearfish. Lookout Mountain Park, at 792 acres with 15.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Spearfish | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.5 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 9.2% | 3.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lookout Mountain Park | 15.1 mi | 792 |
| 2. McGuigan Nature Area | 2.3 mi | 62 |
| 3. Creekside Nature Area | 1.4 mi | 26 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Spearfish School District 40-2. Two of its 10 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creekside Elementary - 07Largest public elementary schoolGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 553 | B+ |
| Spearfish High School - 01Largest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 787 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SD on state tests and graduation
28% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Spearfish. Among 35 South Dakota towns, just 3 have a lower share of adults who have obesity than Spearfish. 74% of adults had a checkup this year in Spearfish.
| Spearfish | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 76% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 19% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 35% | 35% |
| What stands out | Spearfish | SD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 9.6% | 11.7% |
| Fewer smokers | 12.7% | 15.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 6.1 years of the Spearfish area’s $73K median household income, the typical home (about $451K) costs more against local pay than in 94% of South Dakota towns; that ratio is one input to its C for cost of living.
50% of Spearfish households own their home. The typical Spearfish home is worth about $451,000, down 0.6% in a year, 42% above the South Dakota typical home.
| Spearfish | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 50% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $963 a month | $958 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Spearfish’s property crime rate is 19.5 per 1,000 residents. Spearfish reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 70% report less.
| Spearfish | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 19.5 per 1,000 residents | 9.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.3 per 1,000 residents | 1.9 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
January nights average 15°: colder than most of the country, but milder than 100% of South Dakota places with climate records; July afternoons average 85.5°.
Spearfish has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. No town among the 35 in South Dakota we compare has a higher January low than Spearfish. About 71 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Spearfish | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 15°F | 9°F | 22°F |
| July high | 86°F | 85°F | 85°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Since 2013, Spearfish has added 692 jobs, to 6,712 in 2023. The top destinations are Rapid City (12%), Deadwood (7%) and Sioux Falls (4%). Half commute less than 6 miles.
| Spearfish | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 6.6% | 6.7% | 11% |
| Median household income | $66,000 | $72,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Children under 18 are 18% of residents (24% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 27% of residents (22% statewide). Spearfish has grown 16% since 2020, to 14,154 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 42% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across South Dakota.
| Spearfish | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 18% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 42% | 32% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 21% | 19% | 18% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.1 points. Across South Dakota, 49.2% of residents are women. Median age: women 39.4, men 40.2.
| Spearfish | SD | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.9% | 13.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.4% | 11.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 14.2% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.5% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.9% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.6% | 10.7% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.7% | 12.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.2% | 11% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.5% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.5% | 6.8% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.1% | 29% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.1% | 19.9% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.5% | 12.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.5% | 21.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.3% | 10% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 59% of U.S. communities. Since 1992, 11 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Spearfish.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Spearfish. Close and well known come first.
40 mi MuseumDinosaur Park13 mi Ski areaDeer Mountain Village52 runs · 615 ft vertical9 mi MuseumAdams Museum & HouseDinosaur Park: Minnesota Jones at en.wikipedia, Public domain
1 within 15 miles of the center of Spearfish
About 11 of every 100 Spearfish residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across South Dakota.
9.2% of the town is conserved land, across 19 parks and preserves.
30 places in Spearfish on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Spearfish.
City in South Dakota, United States
Spearfish (Lakota: Hočhápȟe) is a city in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 12,193 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 13,803 in 2024, making it the 10th most populous city in South Dakota. Spearfish is the largest city in Lawrence County and the home of Black Hills State University.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Spearfish.
| Town | SD rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spearfish | #22 | B− | C | C | B+ | A− |
| North Spearfish | — | — | C− | — | B+ | B+ |
| Mountain Plains | — | — | — | — | — | — |
North Spearfish has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. North Spearfish reports no FBI crime data of its own. Mountain Plains isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Spearfish with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Spearfish grades B− overall, better than 50% of U.S. towns and #22 of 35 in South Dakota. It grades A− for health, C for safety and B+ for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
7 notable people were born here, including Jeff Trandahl and Amy Williams.
