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.
0 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
Clear the search or drop a filter to bring communities back.
Between Blucksberg Mountain, Edgemont, Custer
The rows below are the ones where these do not read the same. Ordered as the table runs, not by importance.
- Region
- Blucksberg MountainRapid City and the Ellsworth corridorEdgemontCentral and Southern HillsCusterCentral and Southern Hills
- County
- Blucksberg MountainMeade CountyEdgemontFall River CountyCusterCuster County
- Jurisdiction
- Blucksberg MountainUnincorporated Meade CountyEdgemontIncorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.CusterNot recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
- Corridor
- Blucksberg MountainI-90EdgemontUS 18 and SD 471CusterUS-16
- To downtown Rapid City
- Blucksberg MountainNot measured for this page.EdgemontAbout 100 miles northeastCusterAbout 50 to 60 minutes
- To Ellsworth AFB
- Blucksberg MountainNot measured for this page.EdgemontAbout 110 milesCusterAbout an hour and ten minutes
Blucksberg Mountain, Edgemont, Custer
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 | Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBlucksberg Mountain | Central and Southern HillsEdgemont | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | |||
| Regiondiffers | Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor | Central and Southern Hills | Central and Southern Hills |
| Countydiffers | Meade County | Fall River County | Custer 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. | Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground. |
| Corridordiffers | I-90 | US 18 and SD 471 | US-16 |
| To downtown Rapid Citydiffers | Not measured for this page.Drive time is not measured for this community. Time it from the parcel itself. | About 100 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel. | About 50 to 60 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak. |
| To Ellsworth AFBdiffers | Not measured for this page.Drive time is not measured for this community. Time it from the parcel itself. | About 110 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel. | About an hour and ten minutesDriving time and distance, off peak. |
| Winter drivingdiffers | This is hill ground off the interstate. Ask who plows the interior road serving the parcel, because some are not county maintained. | 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. | Winter roads are a genuine planning factor at this distance, and on acreage you need to know who maintains yours. |
| Housing and lots | |||
| Typical pricediffers | No verified closed sale set is available for Blucksberg Mountain, so no price level is printed here. The five recorded plats differ enough that one figure would not describe any of them. | 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. | Median sold $627,000Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 7 closed sales, small sample. |
| Housing agediffers | Mixed ages. Older homes near the core, newer construction toward the edges. | An 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count. | Mixed ages. Older homes near the core, newer construction toward the edges. |
| New constructiondiffers | Not recorded townwide in this guide. Check current permits with the city or county. | None underway | Not recorded townwide in this guide. Check current permits with the city or county. |
| Acreagediffers | Acreage parcels are common here | Acreage parcels are common here | Acreage is common outside the city core, with wells and septic systems typical on many rural properties. |
| Typical lotdiffers | Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions. | Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them. | Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions. |
| Covenants and HOAdiffersCovenants are recorded per plat. The title commitment lists what binds the parcel. | Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others | 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 | Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it |
| Waterdiffers | Varies by plat. Blucksberg Mountain #1 is a regulated community water system. Confirm provider and rate by parcel. | City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells. | 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. |
| Sewerdiffers | Septic common in current listings. Confirm the system by address. | City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels. | 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. |
| Short term rentalsdiffers | Short term rental rules here come from Meade County and from the covenants on the recorded plat, not from a city ordinance. | 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. | Grandfathered permits are non transferable and expire when the property sells, and the rules flip at the city line. |
| Schools | |||
| School districtdiffers | Meade School District 46-1Assignment 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. | Custer School District 16-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district. |
| Daily errands | |||
| Groceriesdiffers | Not recorded in this guide. Check what is open near the address. | 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 | Not recorded in this guide. Confirm the nearest clinic and hospital by address. | 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 Custer Hospital and clinic are in town. |
| Recreationdiffers | Not recorded in this guide. Read the guide for what residents use here. | The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction. | Custer State Park at the door, including Sylvan Lake, the Needles Highway, the wildlife loop and the September buffalo roundup. |
| The trade | |||
| Housing and patterndiffers | Five separate recorded plats of residential acreage on the hill between Rapid City and Sturgis, unincorporated. | A working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains. | A county seat at a park entrance, with a replacement Monument Health hospital and acreage starting just past the city limits. |
| What you gaindiffers | Read the guide | More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities. | You are inside the Hills with real acreage, Custer State Park at the door, and a new hospital in a town of about 1,900. |
| What you give updiffers | Utilities, roads and covenants change from one recorded plat to the next, so nothing you learn about one street transfers to the next one over. | A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy. | Rapid City is 50 to 60 minutes and Ellsworth over an hour, grandfathered rental permits expire when a property sells, and outside the city limits there are no county building codes. |
- Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBlucksberg Mountain
- Central and Southern HillsEdgemont
Where it sits
Regiondiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
- Edgemont
- Central and Southern Hills
- Custer
- Central and Southern Hills
Countydiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Meade County
- Edgemont
- Fall River County
- Custer
- Custer County
Jurisdictiondiffers
City versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.- Blucksberg Mountain
- Unincorporated Meade County
- Edgemont
- Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.
- Custer
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
Corridordiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- I-90
- Edgemont
- US 18 and SD 471
- Custer
- US-16
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Not measured for this page.Drive time is not measured for this community. Time it from the parcel itself.
- Edgemont
- About 100 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
- Custer
- About 50 to 60 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Not measured for this page.Drive time is not measured for this community. Time it from the parcel itself.
- Edgemont
- About 110 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
- Custer
- About an hour and ten minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Winter drivingdiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- This is hill ground off the interstate. Ask who plows the interior road serving the parcel, because some are not county maintained.
- 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.
- Custer
- Winter roads are a genuine planning factor at this distance, and on acreage you need to know who maintains yours.
Housing and lots
Typical pricediffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- No verified closed sale set is available for Blucksberg Mountain, so no price level is printed here. The five recorded plats differ enough that one figure would not describe any of them.
- 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.
- Custer
- Median sold $627,000Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 7 closed sales, small sample.
Housing agediffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Mixed ages. Older homes near the core, newer construction toward the edges.
- Edgemont
- An 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count.
- Custer
- Mixed ages. Older homes near the core, newer construction toward the edges.
New constructiondiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. Check current permits with the city or county.
- Edgemont
- None underway
- Custer
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. Check current permits with the city or county.
Acreagediffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Acreage parcels are common here
- Edgemont
- Acreage parcels are common here
- Custer
- Acreage is common outside the city core, with wells and septic systems typical on many rural properties.
Typical lotdiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.
- Edgemont
- Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.
- Custer
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.
Covenants and HOAdiffers
Covenants are recorded per plat. The title commitment lists what binds the parcel.- Blucksberg Mountain
- Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others
- Edgemont
- Few plats here carry recorded covenants
- Custer
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
- Edgemont
- City water and sewer inside the limits
- Custer
- Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Waterdiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Varies by plat. Blucksberg Mountain #1 is a regulated community water system. Confirm provider and rate by parcel.
- Edgemont
- City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.
- Custer
- 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.
Sewerdiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Septic common in current listings. Confirm the system by address.
- Edgemont
- City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.
- Custer
- 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.
Short term rentalsdiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Short term rental rules here come from Meade County and from the covenants on the recorded plat, not from a city ordinance.
- 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.
- Custer
- Grandfathered permits are non transferable and expire when the property sells, and the rules flip at the city line.
Schools
School districtdiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Meade School District 46-1Assignment 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.
- Custer
- Custer School District 16-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Daily errands
Groceriesdiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Not recorded in this guide. Check what is open near the address.
- Edgemont
- Small-town grocery and convenience in Edgemont, with Hot Springs about 35 miles east for more.
- Custer
- Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.
Healthcarediffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Not recorded in this guide. Confirm the nearest clinic and hospital by address.
- 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.
- Custer
- Monument Health Custer Hospital and clinic are in town.
Recreationdiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Not recorded in this guide. Read the guide for what residents use here.
- Edgemont
- The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction.
- Custer
- Custer State Park at the door, including Sylvan Lake, the Needles Highway, the wildlife loop and the September buffalo roundup.
The trade
Housing and patterndiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Five separate recorded plats of residential acreage on the hill between Rapid City and Sturgis, unincorporated.
- Edgemont
- A working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains.
- Custer
- A county seat at a park entrance, with a replacement Monument Health hospital and acreage starting just past the city limits.
What you gaindiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Read the guide
- Edgemont
- More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities.
- Custer
- You are inside the Hills with real acreage, Custer State Park at the door, and a new hospital in a town of about 1,900.
What you give updiffers
- Blucksberg Mountain
- Utilities, roads and covenants change from one recorded plat to the next, so nothing you learn about one street transfers to the next one over.
- Edgemont
- A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy.
- Custer
- Rapid City is 50 to 60 minutes and Ellsworth over an hour, grandfathered rental permits expire when a property sells, and outside the city limits there are no county building codes.
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.