Relocation

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.

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3 of 25 communities

Under $400k Close to Ellsworth Close to Rapid City Short commute New construction available Acreage available City water and sewer Smaller market More rural Established housing Newer housing Clear filters Clear everything

Price filters only consider communities with a published trailing twelve month median, so towns without one do not appear in a price filter.

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The five facts that decide a shortlist

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Selected, 3 of 4

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.

Box Elder
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.
Selected Guide
Rapid City
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.
Compare Guide
Rapid Valley
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.
Compare Guide

What changes

Between Black Hawk, Edgemont, 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 corridorEdgemontCentral and Southern HillsBox ElderRapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
County: Black HawkMeade CountyEdgemontFall River CountyBox ElderPennington County
Jurisdiction: Black HawkUnincorporated Meade CountyEdgemontIncorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.Box ElderCity of Box Elder
Corridor: Black HawkI-90EdgemontUS 18 and SD 471Box ElderI-90
To downtown Rapid City: Black HawkAbout 12 to 15 minutesEdgemontAbout 100 miles northeastBox Elder19 min, 10.9 mi
To Ellsworth AFB: Black HawkAbout 30 minutes, the same I-90 run as Summerset just northEdgemontAbout 110 milesBox Elder9 min, 2.3 mi

Side by side

Black Hawk, Edgemont, 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.

The selected Black Hills communities compared on location, housing, utilities, schools, daily errands, mapped subdivisions and the trade each one asks for
Attribute	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBlack Hawk	Central and Southern HillsEdgemont	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBox Elder
Where it sits
Regiondiffers	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor	Central and Southern Hills	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Countydiffers	Meade County	Fall River County	Pennington County
JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.	Unincorporated Meade County	Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.	City of Box Elder
Corridordiffers	I-90	US 18 and SD 471	I-90
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers	About 12 to 15 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 100 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.	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 110 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.	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.	Cold semi-arid country with a recorded low of 40 below. US 18 is the lifeline and it is a long way to anywhere in a storm.	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.	About $155,000 average sold, 13 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $155,285. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 13 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 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count.	Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement
New constructiondiffers	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	None underway	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	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.
Typical lotdiffers	Bigger lots, with shop space and outbuildings normal	Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.	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.
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it	City water and sewer inside the limits	City water and sewer inside the limits
Waterdiffers	Black Hawk Water User District	City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.	City of Box Elder municipal
Sewerdiffers	Black Hawk Sanitary District serves roughly 200 homes and businesses; properties outside the district are on private septic	City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.	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.	Edgemont is not a tourism town. Short-term rental demand here is work crews, hunting season and Rally traffic passing through, not visitors staying to see something.	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.	Edgemont School District 23-1Assignment 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.	Small-town grocery and convenience in Edgemont, with Hot Springs about 35 miles east for more.	Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.
Healthcarediffers	Monument Health Rapid City Hospital	No hospital in town. Fall River Health Services in Hot Springs is a 25 bed critical access hospital with a 24 hour emergency department.	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.	The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction.	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.	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 working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains.	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.	More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities.	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.	A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy.	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.

Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBlack Hawk
Central and Southern HillsEdgemont
Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBox Elder

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

Black Hawk: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Edgemont: Central and Southern Hills
Box Elder: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor

Countydiffers

Black Hawk: Meade County
Edgemont: Fall River County
Box Elder: Pennington County

Jurisdictiondiffers

City versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.

Black Hawk: Unincorporated Meade County
Edgemont: Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.
Box Elder: City of Box Elder

Corridordiffers

Black Hawk: I-90
Edgemont: US 18 and SD 471
Box Elder: I-90

To downtown Rapid Citydiffers

Black Hawk: About 12 to 15 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Edgemont: About 100 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
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.
Edgemont: About 110 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
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.
Edgemont: Cold semi-arid country with a recorded low of 40 below. US 18 is the lifeline and it is a long way to anywhere in a storm.
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.
Edgemont: About $155,000 average sold, 13 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $155,285. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 13 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
Edgemont: An 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count.
Box Elder: Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement

New constructiondiffers

Black Hawk: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Edgemont: None underway
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.
Edgemont: Acreage parcels are common here
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
Edgemont: Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.
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.
Edgemont: Few plats here carry recorded covenants
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
Edgemont: City water and sewer inside the limits
Box Elder: City water and sewer inside the limits

Waterdiffers

Black Hawk: Black Hawk Water User District
Edgemont: City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.
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
Edgemont: City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.
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.
Edgemont: Edgemont is not a tourism town. Short-term rental demand here is work crews, hunting season and Rally traffic passing through, not visitors staying to see something.
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.
Edgemont: Edgemont School District 23-1Assignment 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.
Edgemont: Small-town grocery and convenience in Edgemont, with Hot Springs about 35 miles east for more.
Box Elder: Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.

Healthcarediffers

Black Hawk: Monument Health Rapid City Hospital
Edgemont: No hospital in town. Fall River Health Services in Hot Springs is a 25 bed critical access hospital with a 24 hour emergency department.
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.
Edgemont: The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction.
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.
Edgemont: No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
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.
Edgemont: A working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains.
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.
Edgemont: More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities.
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.
Edgemont: A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy.
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.

Where this comes from

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

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ComparingBlack Hawk, Edgemont, Box Elder

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