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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8 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.

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.
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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.

Belle Fourche
Typical price
$275k to $375kMedian sold $300,000. Mount Rushmore Area MLS, all residential, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 113 closed sales.
To Ellsworth AFB
About an hourDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
About 55 to 60 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Utility pattern
Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
School district
Belle Fourche School District 9-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
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Lead and Deadwood
Typical price
$320k to $500kMedian sold $385,000. Mount Rushmore Area MLS, all residential, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 117 closed sales.
To Ellsworth AFB
About 55 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
About 50 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Utility pattern
Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify water and sewer service for the address.
School district
Lead-Deadwood School District 40-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
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Sturgis
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.
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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.

Edgemont
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.
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Hot Springs
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.
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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.

New Underwood
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.
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Wall
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.
Compare Guide

What changes

Between Black Hawk, Whitewood, Keystone

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 corridorWhitewoodNorthern Hills and I-90KeystoneCentral and Southern Hills
County: Black HawkMeade CountyWhitewoodLawrence CountyKeystonePennington County
Jurisdiction: Black HawkUnincorporated Meade CountyWhitewoodNot recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.KeystoneIncorporated town of Keystone, with unincorporated Pennington County on the surrounding hillsides.
Corridor: Black HawkI-90WhitewoodI-90 and US-85KeystoneUS 16A
To downtown Rapid City: Black HawkAbout 12 to 15 minutesWhitewoodAbout 35 minutesKeystoneAbout 25 minutes northeast
To Ellsworth AFB: Black HawkAbout 30 minutes, the same I-90 run as Summerset just northWhitewoodAbout 40 minutesKeystoneAbout 40 minutes

Side by side

Black Hawk, Whitewood, Keystone

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	Northern Hills and I-90Whitewood	Central and Southern HillsKeystone
Where it sits
Regiondiffers	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor	Northern Hills and I-90	Central and Southern Hills
Countydiffers	Meade County	Lawrence County	Pennington County
JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.	Unincorporated Meade County	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.	Incorporated town of Keystone, with unincorporated Pennington County on the surrounding hillsides.
Corridordiffers	I-90	I-90 and US-85	US 16A
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers	About 12 to 15 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 35 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 25 minutes northeastDriving 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 40 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 40 minutesDriving 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.	I-90 and US-85 are state maintained. The town streets and the roads out past them clear on their own schedule.	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.
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.	No town median is published for Whitewood, and it sits in Lawrence County, which the Mount Rushmore Area MLS covers rather than the Black Hills feed behind the figures here. Prices sit under Sturgis, Spearfish and Deadwood, each about ten minutes out.	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.
Housing agediffers	Mixed street to street, sometimes neighbor to neighbor	Older and modest through town, so systems matter more than finishes.	An 1883 mining town, so genuinely old stock alongside newer builds and cabins.
New construction	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Acreagediffers	Larger lots and acre properties are part of the Black Hawk market, including properties with room for shops and outbuildings.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.	Some acreage, mostly platted town lots
Typical lotdiffers	Bigger lots, with shop space and outbuildings normal	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.	Small and steep in town, larger on the surrounding hillsides outside the limits.
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.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.	Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Utilities and rules
Utility pattern	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Waterdiffers	Black Hawk Water User District	Municipal water inside the limits, a private well or a district system outside them.Read off the townwide utility pattern in the guide. The service address controls, so confirm the provider before you write an offer.	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.
Sewerdiffers	Black Hawk Sanitary District serves roughly 200 homes and businesses; properties outside the district are on private septic	City sewer inside the limits, private septic outside them.Read off the townwide utility pattern in the guide. The service address controls, so confirm the provider before you write an offer.	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.
Short term rentalsdiffers	No municipal short term rental ordinance, because there is no municipality. State licensing still applies, and the subdivision covenant usually decides.	No short term rental provisions in the city code, and Rally season renting is common here under state rules.	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.
Schools
School districtdiffers	Rapid City Area Schools 51-4 for most addressesAssignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.	Meade School District 46-1, despite being in Lawrence CountyAssignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.	Hill City School District 51-2Assignment 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.	No full-service grocery store is in Whitewood. Most larger grocery trips go to Sturgis or Spearfish.	Nothing full service in town. Hill City is the closest small grocery and Rapid City is the real shopping, about 25 minutes northeast.
Healthcarediffers	Monument Health Rapid City Hospital	Monument Health Sturgis HospitalNo hospital in Whitewood. Sturgis is the nearer of the two, with Spearfish next.	No clinic in town. Monument Health Custer Hospital has a 24 hour emergency department, and Rapid City has the larger hospital.
Recreationdiffers	Piedmont and the Stagebarn area are just north, with the central hills close enough for a half day.	Sturgis and Bear Butte State Park about eight miles east, Deadwood 10 to 12 miles southwest, Spearfish and Spearfish Canyon 10 to 12 miles northwest.	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.
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.	23 mapped outlines, 0 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.
The trade
Housing and patterndiffers	Unincorporated foothills pockets where lot size, home age and outbuildings change from one parcel to the next.	A quiet main street with Sturgis, Spearfish and Deadwood each about ten minutes out and the interstate right there.	An 1883 mining camp turned tourism town at the gateway to Mount Rushmore, 240 residents and millions of visitors.
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.	Small town prices with three larger towns about ten minutes out in three directions, in Meade 46-1 despite sitting in Lawrence County.	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.
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.	Anything past the basics is a drive to Sturgis, Spearfish or Deadwood, and there are no published MLS figures for the town on its own.	A seasonal town with no school, no grocery and no clinic, and a housing stock where half the doors are dark in winter.

Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBlack Hawk
Northern Hills and I-90Whitewood
Central and Southern HillsKeystone

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

Black Hawk: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Whitewood: Northern Hills and I-90
Keystone: Central and Southern Hills

Countydiffers

Black Hawk: Meade County
Whitewood: Lawrence County
Keystone: Pennington County

Jurisdictiondiffers

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

Black Hawk: Unincorporated Meade County
Whitewood: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
Keystone: Incorporated town of Keystone, with unincorporated Pennington County on the surrounding hillsides.

Corridordiffers

Black Hawk: I-90
Whitewood: I-90 and US-85
Keystone: US 16A

To downtown Rapid Citydiffers

Black Hawk: About 12 to 15 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Whitewood: About 35 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Keystone: About 25 minutes northeastDriving 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.
Whitewood: About 40 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Keystone: About 40 minutesDriving 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.
Whitewood: I-90 and US-85 are state maintained. The town streets and the roads out past them clear on their own schedule.
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.

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.
Whitewood: No town median is published for Whitewood, and it sits in Lawrence County, which the Mount Rushmore Area MLS covers rather than the Black Hills feed behind the figures here. Prices sit under Sturgis, Spearfish and Deadwood, each about ten minutes out.
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.

Housing agediffers

Black Hawk: Mixed street to street, sometimes neighbor to neighbor
Whitewood: Older and modest through town, so systems matter more than finishes.
Keystone: An 1883 mining town, so genuinely old stock alongside newer builds and cabins.

New construction

Black Hawk: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Whitewood: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Keystone: 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.
Whitewood: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.
Keystone: Some acreage, mostly platted town lots

Typical lotdiffers

Black Hawk: Bigger lots, with shop space and outbuildings normal
Whitewood: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.
Keystone: Small and steep in town, larger on the surrounding hillsides outside the limits.

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.
Whitewood: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
Keystone: Few plats here carry recorded covenants

Utilities and rules

Utility pattern

Black Hawk: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Whitewood: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Keystone: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it

Waterdiffers

Black Hawk: Black Hawk Water User District
Whitewood: Municipal water inside the limits, a private well or a district system outside them.Read off the townwide utility pattern in the guide. The service address controls, so confirm the provider before you write an offer.
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.

Sewerdiffers

Black Hawk: Black Hawk Sanitary District serves roughly 200 homes and businesses; properties outside the district are on private septic
Whitewood: City sewer inside the limits, private septic outside them.Read off the townwide utility pattern in the guide. The service address controls, so confirm the provider before you write an offer.
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.

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.
Whitewood: No short term rental provisions in the city code, and Rally season renting is common here under state rules.
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.

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.
Whitewood: Meade School District 46-1, despite being in Lawrence CountyAssignment 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.

Daily errands

Groceriesdiffers

Black Hawk: No full-service grocery store is in Black Hawk. Most larger grocery trips go into Rapid City.
Whitewood: No full-service grocery store is in Whitewood. Most larger grocery trips go to Sturgis or Spearfish.
Keystone: Nothing full service in town. Hill City is the closest small grocery and Rapid City is the real shopping, about 25 minutes northeast.

Healthcarediffers

Black Hawk: Monument Health Rapid City Hospital
Whitewood: Monument Health Sturgis HospitalNo hospital in Whitewood. Sturgis is the nearer of the two, with Spearfish next.
Keystone: No clinic in town. Monument Health Custer Hospital has a 24 hour emergency department, and Rapid City has the larger hospital.

Recreationdiffers

Black Hawk: Piedmont and the Stagebarn area are just north, with the central hills close enough for a half day.
Whitewood: Sturgis and Bear Butte State Park about eight miles east, Deadwood 10 to 12 miles southwest, Spearfish and Spearfish Canyon 10 to 12 miles northwest.
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.

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.
Whitewood: 23 mapped outlines, 0 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.

The trade

Housing and patterndiffers

Black Hawk: Unincorporated foothills pockets where lot size, home age and outbuildings change from one parcel to the next.
Whitewood: A quiet main street with Sturgis, Spearfish and Deadwood each about ten minutes out and the interstate right there.
Keystone: An 1883 mining camp turned tourism town at the gateway to Mount Rushmore, 240 residents and millions of visitors.

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.
Whitewood: Small town prices with three larger towns about ten minutes out in three directions, in Meade 46-1 despite sitting in Lawrence County.
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.

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.
Whitewood: Anything past the basics is a drive to Sturgis, Spearfish or Deadwood, and there are no published MLS figures for the town on its own.
Keystone: A seasonal town with no school, no grocery and no clinic, and a housing stock where half the doors are dark in winter.

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

Contact

Want to talk through the tradeoffs?

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ComparingBlack Hawk, Whitewood, Keystone

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