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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1 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, 4 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.
4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide

What changes

Between Box Elder, Custer, Edgemont, Rapid Valley

The rows below are the ones where these do not read the same. Ordered as the table runs, not by importance.

Region: Box ElderRapid City and the Ellsworth corridorCusterCentral and Southern HillsEdgemontCentral and Southern HillsRapid ValleyRapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
County: Box ElderPennington CountyCusterCuster CountyEdgemontFall River CountyRapid ValleyPennington County
Jurisdiction: Box ElderCity of Box ElderCusterNot recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.EdgemontIncorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.Rapid ValleyUnincorporated. There is no city government. Pennington County is the governing body, and Rapid City's subdivision rules still apply within three miles of the city limits.
Corridor: Box ElderI-90CusterUS-16EdgemontUS 18 and SD 471Rapid ValleySD 44 and Elk Vale Road
To downtown Rapid City: Box Elder19 min, 10.9 miCusterAbout 50 to 60 minutesEdgemontAbout 100 miles northeastRapid Valley11 min, 5.2 mi
To Ellsworth AFB: Box Elder9 min, 2.3 miCusterAbout an hour and ten minutesEdgemontAbout 110 milesRapid Valley22 min, 10.4 mi

Side by side

Box Elder, Custer, Edgemont, Rapid Valley

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 corridorBox Elder	Central and Southern HillsCuster	Central and Southern HillsEdgemont	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorRapid Valley
Where it sits
Regiondiffers	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor	Central and Southern Hills	Central and Southern Hills	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Countydiffers	Pennington County	Custer County	Fall River County	Pennington County
JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.	City of Box Elder	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.	Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.	Unincorporated. There is no city government. Pennington County is the governing body, and Rapid City's subdivision rules still apply within three miles of the city limits.
Corridordiffers	I-90	US-16	US 18 and SD 471	SD 44 and Elk Vale Road
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers	19 min, 10.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 50 to 60 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.	11 min, 5.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers	9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	About an hour and ten minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 110 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.	22 min, 10.4 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Winter drivingdiffers	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.	Winter roads are a genuine planning factor at this distance, and on acreage you need to know who maintains yours.	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.	Highway 44 and Elk Vale are state and county priorities. Interior subdivision streets are county maintained and clear after the arterials do.
Housing and lots
Typical pricediffers	$340k to $400kMedian sold $367,000. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 235 closed sales.	Median sold $627,000Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 7 closed sales, small sample.	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.	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.
Housing agediffers	Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement	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.	Mostly late twentieth century through current, with active building on the edges.
New constructiondiffers	Active, with subdivisions still building	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Check current permits with the city or county.	None underway	Active, with subdivisions still building
Acreagediffers	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.	Acreage is common outside the city core, with wells and septic systems typical on many rural properties.	Acreage parcels are common here	Some acreage, mostly platted town lots
Typical lotdiffers	Small city lots, about 0.15 to 0.18 acres in the newer plats	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.	Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.	Suburban lots through the core, larger parcels toward Reservoir and Radar Hill Roads.
Covenants and HOAdiffersCovenants are recorded per plat. The title commitment lists what binds the parcel.	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.	Few plats here carry recorded covenants	Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers	City water and sewer inside the limits	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it	City water and sewer inside the limits	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.
Waterdiffers	City of Box Elder municipal	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.	City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.	Rapid Valley Sanitary District, treating Rapid Creek water at its own plant, with the ability to buy treated water from Rapid City at peak demand. Parcels outside the district are on private wells.
Sewerdiffers	City of Box Elder municipal	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.	City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.	Rapid Valley Sanitary District owns and maintains the collection system, and Rapid City treats the wastewater under an intergovernmental agreement. Parcels outside the district are on private septic.
Fire protectiondiffersThe responding department and the distance to it both affect an insurance quote.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Confirm the responding department by address.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Confirm the responding department by address.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Confirm the responding department by address.	Rapid Valley Volunteer Fire Department, which also provides EMS and wildland response.
Short term rentalsdiffers	A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up.	Grandfathered permits are non transferable and expire when the property sells, and the rules flip at the city line.	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.	Unincorporated Pennington County has no city short-term rental ordinance to comply with, which is not the same as no rules. County zoning and any subdivision covenants still govern, and state licensing applies.
Schools
School districtdiffers	Douglas School District 51-1Assignment 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.	Edgemont School District 23-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the 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.
Daily errands
Groceriesdiffers	Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.	Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.	Small-town grocery and convenience in Edgemont, with Hot Springs about 35 miles east for more.	Retail and everyday shopping run along Highway 44 on the southern edge, with additional grocery options a few minutes west in Rapid City.
Healthcarediffers	Monument Health Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City.	Monument Health Custer Hospital and clinic are in town.	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 Rapid Valley Clinic provides primary and urgent care in the community. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City.
Recreationdiffers	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.	Custer State Park at the door, including Sylvan Lake, the Needles Highway, the wildlife loop and the September buffalo roundup.	The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction.	Rapid Creek, the county parks east of town, and everything the Hills offer half an hour west.
Mapped subdivisions
Outlines on filediffers	16 mapped outlines, 3 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.	No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.	No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
The trade
Housing and patterndiffers	A young city building its first downtown at Liberty Plaza on 110 acres, with roughly 800 residential units planned.	A county seat at a park entrance, with a replacement Monument Health hospital and acreage starting just past the city limits.	A working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains.	The region's largest unincorporated community: suburban streets, high ownership, county government.
What you gaindiffers	The Ellsworth main gate is in town, 9 minutes from most addresses, on city water and sewer, with the region's newest housing pipeline.	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.	More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities.	Rapid City schools and a five mile commute without Rapid City property taxes, plus a walk-in clinic in the neighborhood.
What you give updiffers	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 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.	A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy.	No city services, a sanitary district bill instead of a city utility bill, and an annexation line that only the parcel record can settle.

Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBox Elder
Central and Southern HillsCuster
Central and Southern HillsEdgemont
Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorRapid Valley

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

Box Elder: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Custer: Central and Southern Hills
Edgemont: Central and Southern Hills
Rapid Valley: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor

Countydiffers

Box Elder: Pennington County
Custer: Custer County
Edgemont: Fall River County
Rapid Valley: Pennington County

Jurisdictiondiffers

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

Box Elder: City of Box Elder
Custer: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
Edgemont: Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.
Rapid Valley: Unincorporated. There is no city government. Pennington County is the governing body, and Rapid City's subdivision rules still apply within three miles of the city limits.

Corridordiffers

Box Elder: I-90
Custer: US-16
Edgemont: US 18 and SD 471
Rapid Valley: SD 44 and Elk Vale Road

To downtown Rapid Citydiffers

Box Elder: 19 min, 10.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Custer: About 50 to 60 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.
Rapid Valley: 11 min, 5.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.

To Ellsworth AFBdiffers

Box Elder: 9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Custer: About an hour and ten 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.
Rapid Valley: 22 min, 10.4 miDriving time and distance, off peak.

Winter drivingdiffers

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.
Custer: Winter roads are a genuine planning factor at this distance, and on acreage you need to know who maintains yours.
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.
Rapid Valley: Highway 44 and Elk Vale are state and county priorities. Interior subdivision streets are county maintained and clear after the arterials do.

Housing and lots

Typical pricediffers

Box Elder: $340k to $400kMedian sold $367,000. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 235 closed sales.
Custer: Median sold $627,000Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 7 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.
Rapid Valley: 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.

Housing agediffers

Box Elder: Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement
Custer: 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.
Rapid Valley: Mostly late twentieth century through current, with active building on the edges.

New constructiondiffers

Box Elder: Active, with subdivisions still building
Custer: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Check current permits with the city or county.
Edgemont: None underway
Rapid Valley: Active, with subdivisions still building

Acreagediffers

Box Elder: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.
Custer: Acreage is common outside the city core, with wells and septic systems typical on many rural properties.
Edgemont: Acreage parcels are common here
Rapid Valley: Some acreage, mostly platted town lots

Typical lotdiffers

Box Elder: Small city lots, about 0.15 to 0.18 acres in the newer plats
Custer: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.
Edgemont: Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.
Rapid Valley: Suburban lots through the core, larger parcels toward Reservoir and Radar Hill Roads.

Covenants and HOAdiffers

Covenants are recorded per plat. The title commitment lists what binds the parcel.

Box Elder: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
Custer: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
Edgemont: Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Rapid Valley: Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others

Utilities and rules

Utility patterndiffers

Box Elder: City water and sewer inside the limits
Custer: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Edgemont: City water and sewer inside the limits
Rapid Valley: 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.

Waterdiffers

Box Elder: City of Box Elder municipal
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.
Edgemont: City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.
Rapid Valley: Rapid Valley Sanitary District, treating Rapid Creek water at its own plant, with the ability to buy treated water from Rapid City at peak demand. Parcels outside the district are on private wells.

Sewerdiffers

Box Elder: City of Box Elder municipal
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.
Edgemont: City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.
Rapid Valley: Rapid Valley Sanitary District owns and maintains the collection system, and Rapid City treats the wastewater under an intergovernmental agreement. Parcels outside the district are on private septic.

Fire protectiondiffers

The responding department and the distance to it both affect an insurance quote.

Box Elder: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Confirm the responding department by address.
Custer: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Confirm the responding department by address.
Edgemont: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Confirm the responding department by address.
Rapid Valley: Rapid Valley Volunteer Fire Department, which also provides EMS and wildland response.

Short term rentalsdiffers

Box Elder: A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up.
Custer: Grandfathered permits are non transferable and expire when the property sells, and the rules flip at the city line.
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.
Rapid Valley: Unincorporated Pennington County has no city short-term rental ordinance to comply with, which is not the same as no rules. County zoning and any subdivision covenants still govern, and state licensing applies.

Schools

School districtdiffers

Box Elder: Douglas School District 51-1Assignment 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.
Edgemont: Edgemont School District 23-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Rapid Valley: 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.

Daily errands

Groceriesdiffers

Box Elder: Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.
Custer: Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.
Edgemont: Small-town grocery and convenience in Edgemont, with Hot Springs about 35 miles east for more.
Rapid Valley: Retail and everyday shopping run along Highway 44 on the southern edge, with additional grocery options a few minutes west in Rapid City.

Healthcarediffers

Box Elder: Monument Health Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City.
Custer: Monument Health Custer Hospital and clinic are in town.
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.
Rapid Valley: Monument Health Rapid Valley Clinic provides primary and urgent care in the community. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City.

Recreationdiffers

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.
Custer: Custer State Park at the door, including Sylvan Lake, the Needles Highway, the wildlife loop and the September buffalo roundup.
Edgemont: The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction.
Rapid Valley: Rapid Creek, the county parks east of town, and everything the Hills offer half an hour west.

Mapped subdivisions

Outlines on filediffers

Box Elder: 16 mapped outlines, 3 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.
Custer: No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
Edgemont: No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
Rapid Valley: No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.

The trade

Housing and patterndiffers

Box Elder: A young city building its first downtown at Liberty Plaza on 110 acres, with roughly 800 residential units planned.
Custer: A county seat at a park entrance, with a replacement Monument Health hospital and acreage starting just past the city limits.
Edgemont: A working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains.
Rapid Valley: The region's largest unincorporated community: suburban streets, high ownership, county government.

What you gaindiffers

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.
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.
Edgemont: More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities.
Rapid Valley: Rapid City schools and a five mile commute without Rapid City property taxes, plus a walk-in clinic in the neighborhood.

What you give updiffers

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.
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.
Edgemont: A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy.
Rapid Valley: No city services, a sanitary district bill instead of a city utility bill, and an annexation line that only the parcel record can settle.

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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ComparingBox Elder, Custer, Edgemont, Rapid Valley

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