Compare Black Hills Communities
25 towns and unincorporated communities. Pick two to four and the full table appears underneath. Commutes are driving times to the Ellsworth main gate and downtown Rapid City. Median sold prices, where we have them, come from the MLS over the trailing twelve months with the source, window and sale count printed under each figure. Typical price bands are practical search ranges, not medians, and are labelled separately.
4 of 25 communities
Price filters only consider communities with a published trailing twelve month median, so towns without one do not appear in a price filter.
The five facts that decide a shortlist
Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Everything within about twenty five minutes of downtown Rapid City or the Ellsworth main gate, where most of the newer inventory, the shortest commutes and the jurisdiction questions about city versus county service are.
- Typical price
- $340k to $400kMedian sold $367,000. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 235 closed sales.
- To Ellsworth AFB
- 9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
- To downtown Rapid City
- 19 min, 10.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
- Utility pattern
- City water and sewer inside the limits
- School district
- Douglas School District 51-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
- Typical price
- No published median exists for the community. Closed sales on the specific street are the only figure worth quoting here.
- To Ellsworth AFB
- About 15 minutes northDriving time and distance, off peak.
- To downtown Rapid City
- About 6 miles northwestDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
- Utility pattern
- Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
- School district
- Split between Douglas 51-1 and Rapid City Area 51-4. Address specific.Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide- Typical price
- $300k to $450kMedian sold $349,950. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 706 closed sales.
- To Ellsworth AFB
- 24 min, 13.8 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
- To downtown Rapid City
- 5 min, 1.5 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
- Utility pattern
- City water and sewer inside the limits
- School district
- Rapid City Area Schools 51-4Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide- Typical price
- About $350,000 average sold, 274 sales over 12 monthsAverage sold $349,971. Black Hills MLS, single family, 12 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 274 closed sales.
- To Ellsworth AFB
- 22 min, 10.4 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
- To downtown Rapid City
- 11 min, 5.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
- Utility pattern
- Utility service varies by address. Rapid Valley Sanitary District serves portions of the area, while properties outside district service may use private wells and septic systems.
- School district
- Mostly Rapid City Area School District 51-4, with portions in Douglas 51-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide
Between Black Hawk, Buffalo Gap, Sturgis, Box Elder
The rows below are the ones where these do not read the same. Ordered as the table runs, not by importance.
- Region
- Black HawkRapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBuffalo GapCentral and Southern HillsSturgisNorthern Hills and I-90Box ElderRapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
- County
- Black HawkMeade CountyBuffalo GapCuster CountySturgisMeade CountyBox ElderPennington County
- Jurisdiction
- Black HawkUnincorporated Meade CountyBuffalo GapIncorporated town of Buffalo Gap, with Custer County outside the limits.SturgisNot recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.Box ElderCity of Box Elder
- Corridor
- Black HawkI-90Buffalo GapSD 79SturgisI-90Box ElderI-90
- To downtown Rapid City
- Black HawkAbout 12 to 15 minutesBuffalo GapAbout 45 miles, roughly 56 minutesSturgis33 min, 28.9 miBox Elder19 min, 10.9 mi
- To Ellsworth AFB
- Black HawkAbout 30 minutes, the same I-90 run as Summerset just northBuffalo GapAbout 55 milesSturgis48 min, 38.2 miBox Elder9 min, 2.3 mi
Black Hawk, Buffalo Gap, Sturgis, Box Elder
Rows marked as differing are the ones where these do not read alike. Rows without the mark sit on a quiet background because they say the same thing in every column.
| Attribute | Central and Southern HillsBuffalo Gap | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | ||||
| Regiondiffers | Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor | Central and Southern Hills | Northern Hills and I-90 | Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor |
| Countydiffers | Meade County | Custer County | Meade County | Pennington County |
| JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work. | Unincorporated Meade County | Incorporated town of Buffalo Gap, with Custer County outside the limits. | Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground. | City of Box Elder |
| Corridordiffers | I-90 | SD 79 | I-90 | I-90 |
| To downtown Rapid Citydiffers | About 12 to 15 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak. | About 45 miles, roughly 56 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak. | 33 min, 28.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak. | 19 min, 10.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak. |
| To Ellsworth AFBdiffers | About 30 minutes, the same I-90 run as Summerset just northDriving time and distance, off peak. | About 55 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel. | 48 min, 38.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak. | 9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak. |
| Winter drivingdiffers | The road out front may be maintained publicly or by the neighborhood, so ask who plows before you buy. | Highway 79 is state maintained and is the connection to Hot Springs and Rapid City. Off it, this is open prairie with blowing snow. | I-90 is state maintained and the city clears its own streets. The county roads out past the edges clear later. | I-90 is state maintained and the city clears the newer plats. Box Elder publishes no plow priority map, so ask a neighbor how the street clears after a real storm. |
| Housing and lots | ||||
| Typical pricediffers | Unincorporated, so closings report under Rapid City and Meade County rather than a Black Hawk median. Lot size and outbuildings move the price more than the street does. | One single family sale shows in the Black Hills MLS over 24 months, at $80,000. One closing is a sample of one rather than a price level, so read it that way. | $300k to $450kMedian sold $365,000. Mount Rushmore Area MLS, all residential, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 97 closed sales. | $340k to $400kMedian sold $367,000. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 235 closed sales. |
| Housing agediffers | Mixed street to street, sometimes neighbor to neighbor | An 1885 to 1939 historic core with an aging housing stock and about a fifth of units vacant. | Older near the core, newer on the edges | Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement |
| New constructiondiffers | Limited, mostly infill and small projects | None underway | Limited, mostly infill and small projects | Active, with subdivisions still building |
| Acreagediffers | Larger lots and acre properties are part of the Black Hawk market, including properties with room for shops and outbuildings. | Acreage parcels are common here | Acreage becomes more common outside the city core, including areas east of Sturgis and along the surrounding canyon and prairie corridors. | Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size. |
| Typical lotdiffers | Bigger lots, with shop space and outbuildings normal | A handful of historic townsite lots, with grassland and ranch ground around them. | Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions. | Small city lots, about 0.15 to 0.18 acres in the newer plats |
| Covenants and HOAdiffersCovenants are recorded per plat. The title commitment lists what binds the parcel. | Recorded covenants on some plats, none on othersRecorded covenants vary by subdivision and should be checked for the specific property. | Few plats here carry recorded covenants | Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat. | Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat. |
| Utilities and rules | ||||
| Utility patterndiffers | Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it | Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it | Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify water and sewer service for the address. | City water and sewer inside the limits |
| Waterdiffers | Black Hawk Water User District | Town of Buffalo Gap municipal water from a single well, serving about 93 connections. Rural parcels are on private wells. | Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the provider for the address. | City of Box Elder municipal |
| Sewerdiffers | Black Hawk Sanitary District serves roughly 200 homes and businesses; properties outside the district are on private septic | Not documented in the public record. There is no municipal wastewater project or discharge permit on file that I could find. Confirm with the town finance officer before assuming either town sewer or septic. | Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the service for the address. | City of Box Elder municipal |
| Short term rentalsdiffers | No municipal short term rental ordinance, because there is no municipality. State licensing still applies, and the subdivision covenant usually decides. | This is hunting and grassland country rather than a tourism corridor. Demand is seasonal and specific. | No short term rental licensing ordinance. What the city does regulate is residential camping during the Rally. | A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up. |
| Schools | ||||
| School districtdiffers | Rapid City Area Schools 51-4 for most addressesAssignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district. | Hot Springs School District 23-2, despite the town being in Custer CountyAssignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district. | Meade School District 46-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district. | Douglas School District 51-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district. |
| Daily errands | ||||
| Groceriesdiffers | No full-service grocery store is in Black Hawk. Most larger grocery trips go into Rapid City. | Nothing full service in town. Hot Springs, about 14 miles south, is where errands happen. | Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town. | Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town. |
| Healthcarediffers | Monument Health Rapid City Hospital | Fall River Health Services in Hot Springs, a 25 bed critical access hospital with a 24 hour emergency department and a rural health clinic, about 18 minutes away. | Monument Health Sturgis Hospital and clinic are in town. | Monument Health Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City. |
| Recreationdiffers | Piedmont and the Stagebarn area are just north, with the central hills close enough for a half day. | Buffalo Gap National Grassland, hunting, rock collecting and OHV country, with the Cheyenne River nearby. | Bear Butte State Park, Fort Meade Recreation Area and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum, with the northern hills toward Spearfish and Deadwood close. | The Liberty Center, the city park and ballfield network, and the South Dakota Air and Space Museum are the in-town recreation. The Badlands are a day trip, not your neighborhood park. |
| Mapped subdivisions | ||||
| Outlines on filediffers | 12 mapped outlines, 5 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls. | No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet. | 9 mapped outlines, 8 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls. | 16 mapped outlines, 3 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls. |
| The trade | ||||
| Housing and patterndiffers | Unincorporated foothills pockets where lot size, home age and outbuildings change from one parcel to the next. | A nearly intact turn-of-the-century western streetscape on the National Register, mostly quiet, at the gate to the grassland. | A full Main Street town with its own grocery, hospital and high school, and Bear Butte on the horizon. | A young city building its first downtown at Liberty Plaza on 110 acres, with roughly 800 residential units planned. |
| What you gaindiffers | Bigger lots, room for a shop, and about 12 to 15 minutes to downtown Rapid City, without a city hall setting the local rules. | Eighteen minutes from the hospital in Hot Springs, with 600,000 acres of grassland out the door and one MLS closing in two years to price from. | A town that stands on its own, grocery, hospital and high school inside it, at a price per square foot below Rapid City. | The Ellsworth main gate is in town, 9 minutes from most addresses, on city water and sewer, with the region's newest housing pipeline. |
| What you give updiffers | There is no city hall, so the subdivision covenant decides what you can build or rent, and water, sewer and road maintenance all change parcel to parcel. | No school, no store and no services in town, an aging water system with an open compliance item, and an undocumented sewer situation. | Half an hour of interstate each way to Rapid City, and for the first two weeks of August the Rally is your town. | Comparable sales run thin inside brand new subdivisions and builder incentives move the effective price without moving the list price. I-90 fills at shift change, and the flight line is close enough that you hear it. |
- Central and Southern HillsBuffalo Gap
Where it sits
Regiondiffers
- Black Hawk
- Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
- Buffalo Gap
- Central and Southern Hills
- Sturgis
- Northern Hills and I-90
- Box Elder
- Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Countydiffers
- Black Hawk
- Meade County
- Buffalo Gap
- Custer County
- Sturgis
- Meade County
- Box Elder
- Pennington County
Jurisdictiondiffers
City versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.- Black Hawk
- Unincorporated Meade County
- Buffalo Gap
- Incorporated town of Buffalo Gap, with Custer County outside the limits.
- Sturgis
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
- Box Elder
- City of Box Elder
Corridordiffers
- Black Hawk
- I-90
- Buffalo Gap
- SD 79
- Sturgis
- I-90
- Box Elder
- I-90
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers
- Black Hawk
- About 12 to 15 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
- Buffalo Gap
- About 45 miles, roughly 56 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
- Sturgis
- 33 min, 28.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
- Box Elder
- 19 min, 10.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers
- Black Hawk
- About 30 minutes, the same I-90 run as Summerset just northDriving time and distance, off peak.
- Buffalo Gap
- About 55 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
- Sturgis
- 48 min, 38.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
- Box Elder
- 9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Winter drivingdiffers
- Black Hawk
- The road out front may be maintained publicly or by the neighborhood, so ask who plows before you buy.
- Buffalo Gap
- Highway 79 is state maintained and is the connection to Hot Springs and Rapid City. Off it, this is open prairie with blowing snow.
- Sturgis
- I-90 is state maintained and the city clears its own streets. The county roads out past the edges clear later.
- Box Elder
- I-90 is state maintained and the city clears the newer plats. Box Elder publishes no plow priority map, so ask a neighbor how the street clears after a real storm.
Housing and lots
Typical pricediffers
- Black Hawk
- Unincorporated, so closings report under Rapid City and Meade County rather than a Black Hawk median. Lot size and outbuildings move the price more than the street does.
- Buffalo Gap
- One single family sale shows in the Black Hills MLS over 24 months, at $80,000. One closing is a sample of one rather than a price level, so read it that way.
- Sturgis
- $300k to $450kMedian sold $365,000. Mount Rushmore Area MLS, all residential, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 97 closed sales.
- Box Elder
- $340k to $400kMedian sold $367,000. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 235 closed sales.
Housing agediffers
- Black Hawk
- Mixed street to street, sometimes neighbor to neighbor
- Buffalo Gap
- An 1885 to 1939 historic core with an aging housing stock and about a fifth of units vacant.
- Sturgis
- Older near the core, newer on the edges
- Box Elder
- Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement
New constructiondiffers
- Black Hawk
- Limited, mostly infill and small projects
- Buffalo Gap
- None underway
- Sturgis
- Limited, mostly infill and small projects
- Box Elder
- Active, with subdivisions still building
Acreagediffers
- Black Hawk
- Larger lots and acre properties are part of the Black Hawk market, including properties with room for shops and outbuildings.
- Buffalo Gap
- Acreage parcels are common here
- Sturgis
- Acreage becomes more common outside the city core, including areas east of Sturgis and along the surrounding canyon and prairie corridors.
- Box Elder
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.
Typical lotdiffers
- Black Hawk
- Bigger lots, with shop space and outbuildings normal
- Buffalo Gap
- A handful of historic townsite lots, with grassland and ranch ground around them.
- Sturgis
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.
- Box Elder
- Small city lots, about 0.15 to 0.18 acres in the newer plats
Covenants and HOAdiffers
Covenants are recorded per plat. The title commitment lists what binds the parcel.- Black Hawk
- Recorded covenants on some plats, none on othersRecorded covenants vary by subdivision and should be checked for the specific property.
- Buffalo Gap
- Few plats here carry recorded covenants
- Sturgis
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
- Box Elder
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers
- Black Hawk
- Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
- Buffalo Gap
- Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
- Sturgis
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify water and sewer service for the address.
- Box Elder
- City water and sewer inside the limits
Waterdiffers
- Black Hawk
- Black Hawk Water User District
- Buffalo Gap
- Town of Buffalo Gap municipal water from a single well, serving about 93 connections. Rural parcels are on private wells.
- Sturgis
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the provider for the address.
- Box Elder
- City of Box Elder municipal
Sewerdiffers
- Black Hawk
- Black Hawk Sanitary District serves roughly 200 homes and businesses; properties outside the district are on private septic
- Buffalo Gap
- Not documented in the public record. There is no municipal wastewater project or discharge permit on file that I could find. Confirm with the town finance officer before assuming either town sewer or septic.
- Sturgis
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the service for the address.
- Box Elder
- City of Box Elder municipal
Short term rentalsdiffers
- Black Hawk
- No municipal short term rental ordinance, because there is no municipality. State licensing still applies, and the subdivision covenant usually decides.
- Buffalo Gap
- This is hunting and grassland country rather than a tourism corridor. Demand is seasonal and specific.
- Sturgis
- No short term rental licensing ordinance. What the city does regulate is residential camping during the Rally.
- Box Elder
- A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up.
Schools
School districtdiffers
- Black Hawk
- Rapid City Area Schools 51-4 for most addressesAssignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
- Buffalo Gap
- Hot Springs School District 23-2, despite the town being in Custer CountyAssignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
- Sturgis
- Meade School District 46-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
- Box Elder
- Douglas School District 51-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Daily errands
Groceriesdiffers
- Black Hawk
- No full-service grocery store is in Black Hawk. Most larger grocery trips go into Rapid City.
- Buffalo Gap
- Nothing full service in town. Hot Springs, about 14 miles south, is where errands happen.
- Sturgis
- Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.
- Box Elder
- Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.
Healthcarediffers
- Black Hawk
- Monument Health Rapid City Hospital
- Buffalo Gap
- Fall River Health Services in Hot Springs, a 25 bed critical access hospital with a 24 hour emergency department and a rural health clinic, about 18 minutes away.
- Sturgis
- Monument Health Sturgis Hospital and clinic are in town.
- Box Elder
- Monument Health Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City.
Recreationdiffers
- Black Hawk
- Piedmont and the Stagebarn area are just north, with the central hills close enough for a half day.
- Buffalo Gap
- Buffalo Gap National Grassland, hunting, rock collecting and OHV country, with the Cheyenne River nearby.
- Sturgis
- Bear Butte State Park, Fort Meade Recreation Area and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum, with the northern hills toward Spearfish and Deadwood close.
- Box Elder
- The Liberty Center, the city park and ballfield network, and the South Dakota Air and Space Museum are the in-town recreation. The Badlands are a day trip, not your neighborhood park.
Mapped subdivisions
Outlines on filediffers
- Black Hawk
- 12 mapped outlines, 5 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.
- Buffalo Gap
- No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
- Sturgis
- 9 mapped outlines, 8 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.
- Box Elder
- 16 mapped outlines, 3 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.
The trade
Housing and patterndiffers
- Black Hawk
- Unincorporated foothills pockets where lot size, home age and outbuildings change from one parcel to the next.
- Buffalo Gap
- A nearly intact turn-of-the-century western streetscape on the National Register, mostly quiet, at the gate to the grassland.
- Sturgis
- A full Main Street town with its own grocery, hospital and high school, and Bear Butte on the horizon.
- Box Elder
- A young city building its first downtown at Liberty Plaza on 110 acres, with roughly 800 residential units planned.
What you gaindiffers
- Black Hawk
- Bigger lots, room for a shop, and about 12 to 15 minutes to downtown Rapid City, without a city hall setting the local rules.
- Buffalo Gap
- Eighteen minutes from the hospital in Hot Springs, with 600,000 acres of grassland out the door and one MLS closing in two years to price from.
- Sturgis
- A town that stands on its own, grocery, hospital and high school inside it, at a price per square foot below Rapid City.
- Box Elder
- The Ellsworth main gate is in town, 9 minutes from most addresses, on city water and sewer, with the region's newest housing pipeline.
What you give updiffers
- Black Hawk
- There is no city hall, so the subdivision covenant decides what you can build or rent, and water, sewer and road maintenance all change parcel to parcel.
- Buffalo Gap
- No school, no store and no services in town, an aging water system with an open compliance item, and an undocumented sewer situation.
- Sturgis
- Half an hour of interstate each way to Rapid City, and for the first two weeks of August the Rally is your town.
- Box Elder
- Comparable sales run thin inside brand new subdivisions and builder incentives move the effective price without moving the list price. I-90 fills at shift change, and the flight line is close enough that you hear it.
Commute figures are driving times off peak, from the community guide each card links to. Median sold prices come from the MLS, and each figure carries its own source, window and closing count, because Sturgis, Spearfish and the northern hills report through a different MLS than Rapid City. Under five closings there is no median, and the price row says so. Five to nine closings carries a small sample note. School districts follow the official boundary for the address, and the district office is the only place to confirm an assignment. Short term rental lines are summaries. Read the guide and the current ordinance before you count on rental income.
The filters use these definitions: under $400k is the MLS sold figure for the town, a median where one is published and otherwise the average sold, comes in under $400,000; close to ellsworth is 25 minutes or less to the Ellsworth main gate; close to rapid city is 20 minutes or less to downtown Rapid City; short commute is 15 minutes or less to either downtown Rapid City or the Ellsworth gate; new construction available is the guide establishes active or limited new construction; acreage available is acreage is common or present in the guide; city water and sewer is city water and sewer across the community; smaller market is fewer than 100 closed single family sales in the trailing twelve months; more rural is acreage is common, or water and sewer are not municipal throughout; established housing is the guide classifies the housing stock as established, meaning largely pre 2000; newer housing is the guide classifies a meaningful share of the housing stock as 2000s or later.
Every row here is a townwide summary and a single parcel can read differently. Buyer due diligence should include verifying water and sewer service, school assignment, recorded covenants and HOA obligations, rental rules, legal access, insurance availability and which jurisdiction inspects and permits the work, for the exact address. Confirm with the city or county, the utility or district, the school district office, the title company and your insurer as applicable.
Last updated August 2026
Want to talk through the tradeoffs?
Two towns can look identical in a table and feel nothing alike on a Tuesday night in February. Call or text and tell me which rows above are the ones you cannot live with, and we can work the list down from there.
Considering a home here?
Send the address and we can talk it through. The details that change from one property to the next are jurisdiction, water and sewer, the school the district assigns, covenants, road maintenance and the rest of what never shows up on a listing.


