Henry Roy Real Estate, Ascend Realty, Rapid City South Dakota
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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7 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.

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The five facts that decide a shortlist

Northern Hills and I-90

The Sturgis to Belle Fourche side of the Hills, with its own hospitals, schools and employers, so a job in Spearfish or Sturgis does not have to mean a Rapid City commute.

  • Typical price
    $300k to $450kMedian sold $365,000. Mount Rushmore Area MLS, all residential, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 97 closed sales.
    To Ellsworth AFB
    48 min, 38.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
    To downtown Rapid City
    33 min, 28.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
    Utility pattern
    Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify water and sewer service for the address.
    School district
    Meade School District 46-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
    4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide

Central and Southern Hills

In the timber and on the far southern edge, where lots get larger, well and septic get common, and the drive to a full service hospital becomes part of the decision.

  • Typical price
    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.
    To Ellsworth AFB
    About 110 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
    To downtown Rapid City
    About 100 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
    Utility pattern
    City water and sewer inside the limits
    School district
    Edgemont School District 23-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
  • Typical price
    About $650,000 average sold, 28 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $648,229. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 28 closed sales.
    To Ellsworth AFB
    About 35 minutes, north through Rapid City to I-90Driving time and distance, off peak.
    To downtown Rapid City
    26 min, 18.6 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
    Utility pattern
    Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
    School district
    Custer School District 16-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
    4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide
  • Typical price
    Median sold $315,150Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 24 closed sales.
    To Ellsworth AFB
    About an hour and fifteen minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
    To downtown Rapid City
    About 60 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
    Utility pattern
    Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify water and sewer service for the address.
    School district
    Hot Springs School District 23-2Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
    4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide
  • Typical price
    About $618,000 average sold, but only 9 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $618,449. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 9 closed sales, small sample.
    To Ellsworth AFB
    About 40 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
    To downtown Rapid City
    About 25 minutes northeastDriving time and distance, off peak.
    Utility pattern
    Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
    School district
    Hill City School District 51-2Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.

Prairie and Badlands

East of the Hills on the open prairie, where lots run larger, water is often a private well, services are thinner and the wind and the drive are the tradeoffs.

  • Typical price
    About $320,000 average sold, 20 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $319,585. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 20 closed sales.
    To Ellsworth AFB
    About 11 miles, exit 78 to the main gate at exit 67ADistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
    To downtown Rapid City
    About 18 miles west on I-90Distance 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
    New Underwood School District 51-3Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
    4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide
  • Typical price
    About $270,000 average sold, 19 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $270,435. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 19 closed sales.
    To Ellsworth AFB
    About 43 miles westDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
    To downtown Rapid City
    About 50 miles west on I-90Distance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
    Utility pattern
    City water and sewer inside the limits
    School district
    Wall School District 51-5Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
What changes

Between Black Hawk, Keystone, Edgemont, Wall

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 corridorKeystoneCentral and Southern HillsEdgemontCentral and Southern HillsWallPrairie and Badlands
County
Black HawkMeade CountyKeystonePennington CountyEdgemontFall River CountyWallPennington County
Jurisdiction
Black HawkUnincorporated Meade CountyKeystoneIncorporated town of Keystone, with unincorporated Pennington County on the surrounding hillsides.EdgemontIncorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.WallIncorporated town of Wall, with Pennington County outside the limits.
Corridor
Black HawkI-90KeystoneUS 16AEdgemontUS 18 and SD 471WallI-90 exits 109 and 110
To downtown Rapid City
Black HawkAbout 12 to 15 minutesKeystoneAbout 25 minutes northeastEdgemontAbout 100 miles northeastWallAbout 50 miles west on I-90
To Ellsworth AFB
Black HawkAbout 30 minutes, the same I-90 run as Summerset just northKeystoneAbout 40 minutesEdgemontAbout 110 milesWallAbout 43 miles west
Side by side

Black Hawk, Keystone, Edgemont, Wall

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.

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

Black Hawk
Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Keystone
Central and Southern Hills
Edgemont
Central and Southern Hills
Wall
Prairie and Badlands

Countydiffers

Black Hawk
Meade County
Keystone
Pennington County
Edgemont
Fall River County
Wall
Pennington County

Jurisdictiondiffers

City versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.
Black Hawk
Unincorporated Meade County
Keystone
Incorporated town of Keystone, with unincorporated Pennington County on the surrounding hillsides.
Edgemont
Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.
Wall
Incorporated town of Wall, with Pennington County outside the limits.

Corridordiffers

Black Hawk
I-90
Keystone
US 16A
Edgemont
US 18 and SD 471
Wall
I-90 exits 109 and 110

To downtown Rapid Citydiffers

Black Hawk
About 12 to 15 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Keystone
About 25 minutes northeastDriving 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.
Wall
About 50 miles west on I-90Distance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.

To Ellsworth AFBdiffers

Black Hawk
About 30 minutes, the same I-90 run as Summerset just northDriving time and distance, off peak.
Keystone
About 40 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Edgemont
About 110 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
Wall
About 43 miles westDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.

Winter drivingdiffers

Black Hawk
The road out front may be maintained publicly or by the neighborhood, so ask who plows before you buy.
Keystone
Black Hills elevation on canyon roads, and a town that empties out for the season. Iron Mountain Road and the scenic routes are not winter commuting roads.
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.
Wall
I-90 is the lifeline and it is state maintained, but this is open prairie and I-90 does close in a ground blizzard. Plan for that a few times a winter.

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.
Keystone
About $618,000 average sold, but only 9 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $618,449. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 9 closed sales, small sample.
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.
Wall
About $270,000 average sold, 19 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $270,435. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 19 closed sales.

Housing agediffers

Black Hawk
Mixed street to street, sometimes neighbor to neighbor
Keystone
An 1883 mining town, so genuinely old stock alongside newer builds and cabins.
Edgemont
An 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count.
Wall
Older stock through town, with a municipal demolition incentive program in place for blighted property.

New constructiondiffers

Black Hawk
Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Keystone
Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Edgemont
None underway
Wall
Limited, mostly infill and small projects

Acreagediffers

Black Hawk
Larger lots and acre properties are part of the Black Hawk market, including properties with room for shops and outbuildings.
Keystone
Some acreage, mostly platted town lots
Edgemont
Acreage parcels are common here
Wall
Acreage parcels are common here

Typical lotdiffers

Black Hawk
Bigger lots, with shop space and outbuildings normal
Keystone
Small and steep in town, larger on the surrounding hillsides outside the limits.
Edgemont
Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.
Wall
Platted town lots, and then it jumps straight to ranch scale.

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.
Keystone
Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Edgemont
Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Wall
Few plats here carry recorded covenants

Utilities and rules

Utility patterndiffers

Black Hawk
Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Keystone
Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Edgemont
City water and sewer inside the limits
Wall
City water and sewer inside the limits

Waterdiffers

Black Hawk
Black Hawk Water User District
Keystone
Town of Keystone municipal water inside the limits, drawn from town wells, with no violations on its current record. Parcels outside the town limits are on private wells.
Edgemont
City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.
Wall
Town of Wall municipal water inside the limits. Rural parcels are on private wells.

Sewerdiffers

Black Hawk
Black Hawk Sanitary District serves roughly 200 homes and businesses; properties outside the district are on private septic
Keystone
Confirm with the town before you rely on it. The town operates public works, but I have not been able to verify from the public record whether it runs a collection system or which parcels it reaches. Outside the limits, expect private septic.
Edgemont
City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.
Wall
Town sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.

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.
Keystone
A 2 percent municipal lodging tax applies to transient stays. Whether a separate short term rental ordinance exists is not clear from the public record, so confirm with the town in writing.
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.
Wall
This is genuine seasonal tourism territory at a national park gate. Confirm any town requirement, and note that Wall Drug houses many of its own seasonal workers, which removes demand from the local rental market.

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.
Keystone
Hill City School District 51-2Assignment 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.
Wall
Wall School District 51-5Assignment 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.
Keystone
Nothing full service in town. Hill City is the closest small grocery and Rapid City is the real shopping, about 25 minutes northeast.
Edgemont
Small-town grocery and convenience in Edgemont, with Hot Springs about 35 miles east for more.
Wall
The Wall Food Center on South Boulevard West.

Healthcarediffers

Black Hawk
Monument Health Rapid City Hospital
Keystone
No clinic in town. Monument Health Custer Hospital has a 24 hour emergency department, and Rapid City has the larger 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.
Wall
The Monument Health Wall Clinic on 7th Avenue is in town. The nearest hospital is Monument Health Rapid City, roughly 50 miles west.

Recreationdiffers

Black Hawk
Piedmont and the Stagebarn area are just north, with the central hills close enough for a half day.
Keystone
Mount Rushmore is past the town boundary, the 1880 Train runs from the Winter Street depot, and Custer State Park and the Norbeck Scenic Byway are close.
Edgemont
The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction.
Wall
Badlands National Park about seven miles south, Buffalo Gap National Grassland all around, the National Grasslands Visitor Center on Main Street and the Wall rodeo arena.

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.
Keystone
No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
Edgemont
No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
Wall
No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.

The trade

Housing and patterndiffers

Black Hawk
Unincorporated foothills pockets where lot size, home age and outbuildings change from one parcel to the next.
Keystone
An 1883 mining camp turned tourism town at the gateway to Mount Rushmore, 240 residents and millions of visitors.
Edgemont
A working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains.
Wall
A complete small prairie town with its own school, clinic and grocery, at the northern gate to the Badlands.

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.
Keystone
Nightly rental demand runs about as high as anywhere in the Black Hills, if the rules and the covenants check out for the specific property.
Edgemont
More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities.
Wall
Everything a town needs in one place, 50 miles from the city, at prairie prices.

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.
Keystone
A seasonal town with no school, no grocery and no clinic, and a housing stock where half the doors are dark in winter.
Edgemont
A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy.
Wall
Fifty miles to a hospital and to real shopping, and an economy that runs on a three month season.
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, Keystone, Edgemont, Wall

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