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.
10 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
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.
- Typical price
- About $683,000 average sold in the Sheridan Lake Road MLS area, 71 sales over 12 monthsAverage sold $682,615. Black Hills MLS, single family, 12 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 71 closed sales.
- To Ellsworth AFB
- About 25 to 30 minutes, through or around Rapid CityDriving time and distance, off peak.
- To downtown Rapid City
- Roughly 6 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
- Utility pattern
- Mostly private well and septic
- School district
- Rapid City Area School District 51-4Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide
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
- Median sold $627,000Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 7 closed sales, small sample.
- To Ellsworth AFB
- About an hour and ten minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
- To downtown Rapid City
- About 50 to 60 minutesDriving 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
- 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 $519,000Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 13 closed sales.
- To Ellsworth AFB
- About 45 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
- To downtown Rapid City
- About 30 to 35 minutes on US-16Driving time and distance, off peak.
- Utility pattern
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify water and sewer service for the address.
- School district
- Hill City School District 51-2Assignment 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.
4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide
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.
Between Box Elder, Edgemont, Wall, Newell
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 corridorEdgemontCentral and Southern HillsWallPrairie and BadlandsNewellNorthern Hills and I-90
- County
- Box ElderPennington CountyEdgemontFall River CountyWallPennington CountyNewellButte County
- Jurisdiction
- Box ElderCity of Box ElderEdgemontIncorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.WallIncorporated town of Wall, with Pennington County outside the limits.NewellIncorporated municipality of Newell, with Butte County outside the limits.
- Corridor
- Box ElderI-90EdgemontUS 18 and SD 471WallI-90 exits 109 and 110NewellUS 212 and SD 79
- To downtown Rapid City
- Box Elder19 min, 10.9 miEdgemontAbout 100 miles northeastWallAbout 50 miles west on I-90NewellAbout 54 miles, roughly 70 minutes
- To Ellsworth AFB
- Box Elder9 min, 2.3 miEdgemontAbout 110 milesWallAbout 43 miles westNewellAbout 60 miles
Box Elder, Edgemont, Wall, Newell
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 | Central and Southern HillsEdgemont | Prairie and BadlandsWall | Northern Hills and I-90Newell | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | ||||
| Regiondiffers | Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor | Central and Southern Hills | Prairie and Badlands | Northern Hills and I-90 |
| Countydiffers | Pennington County | Fall River County | Pennington County | Butte County |
| JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work. | City of Box Elder | Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits. | Incorporated town of Wall, with Pennington County outside the limits. | Incorporated municipality of Newell, with Butte County outside the limits. |
| Corridordiffers | I-90 | US 18 and SD 471 | I-90 exits 109 and 110 | US 212 and SD 79 |
| To downtown Rapid Citydiffers | 19 min, 10.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak. | About 100 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel. | About 50 miles west on I-90Distance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel. | About 54 miles, roughly 70 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak. |
| To Ellsworth AFBdiffers | 9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak. | About 110 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel. | About 43 miles westDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel. | About 60 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel. |
| 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. | Cold semi-arid country with a recorded low of 40 below. US 18 is the lifeline and it is a long way to anywhere in a storm. | I-90 is 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. | US 212 and SD 79 are state maintained, and the state rebuilt the Nisland to Newell stretch and the south junction in 2025. Off the highway it is open country and wind moves snow. |
| 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. | 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 $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. | No figure published. Newell is Mount Rushmore Area MLS territory and the current feed covers only the Black Hills MLS, so any count from that feed is a floor rather than this town's price level. |
| Housing agediffers | Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement | An 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count. | Older stock through town, with a municipal demolition incentive program in place for blighted property. | A 1910 townsite, so genuinely old in-town stock with newer building scattered around it. |
| New constructiondiffers | Active, with subdivisions still building | None underway | Limited, mostly infill and small projects | Limited, mostly infill and small projects |
| Acreagediffers | Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size. | Acreage parcels are common here | Acreage parcels are common here | Acreage parcels are common here |
| Typical lotdiffers | Small city lots, about 0.15 to 0.18 acres in the newer plats | Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them. | Platted town lots, and then it jumps straight to ranch scale. | Small townsite lots, then irrigated project acreage, then rangeland, in that order as you drive out. |
| 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. | Few plats here carry recorded covenants | Few plats here carry recorded covenants | Few plats here carry recorded covenants |
| Utilities and rules | ||||
| Utility patterndiffers | City water and sewer inside the limits | City water and sewer inside the limits | City water and sewer inside the limits | Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it |
| Waterdiffers | City of Box Elder municipal | City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells. | Town of Wall municipal water inside the limits. Rural parcels are on private wells. | Town of Newell municipal water inside the limits, from groundwater, serving about 378 connections. Rural properties are on the Butte-Meade Sanitary Water District or on private wells. Irrigation water from the Belle Fourche Irrigation District is an entirely separate thing from domestic water. |
| Sewerdiffers | City of Box Elder municipal | City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels. | Town sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels. | Municipal sewer inside the limits, billed monthly alongside water. Rural parcels are on private septic. |
| Short term rentalsdiffers | A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up. | 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. | 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. | Newell is an agricultural town rather than a tourism town. Short-term rental demand here is hunting season, Rally week and ag events, not year-round visitors. |
| Schools | ||||
| School districtdiffers | Douglas School District 51-1Assignment 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. | Wall School District 51-5Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district. | Newell School District 09-2Assignment 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. | Small-town grocery and convenience in Edgemont, with Hot Springs about 35 miles east for more. | The Wall Food Center on South Boulevard West. | A grocery store and a hardware store in town, with Belle Fourche about 25 miles for anything larger. |
| Healthcarediffers | Monument Health Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City. | No hospital in town. Fall River Health Services in Hot Springs is a 25 bed critical access hospital with a 24 hour emergency department. | The Monument Health Wall Clinic on 7th Avenue is in town. The nearest hospital is Monument Health Rapid City, roughly 50 miles west. | No hospital or clinic in Newell. Sturgis is about 26 miles, Spearfish about 37, and Monument Health has a clinic in Belle Fourche. |
| 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. | The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction. | 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. | A nine-hole golf course, the Newell Museum, the Belle Fourche Reservoir north of town, and hunting in every direction. |
| 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 working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains. | A complete small prairie town with its own school, clinic and grocery, at the northern gate to the Badlands. | A federal reclamation townsite from 1910 at the center of a 57,000 acre irrigation project, with a sale barn and its own school. |
| 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. | More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities. | Everything a town needs in one place, 50 miles from the city, at prairie prices. | A complete small town with its own K through 12 school and irrigated ground around it, at prices the Hills corridor cannot touch. |
| 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. | A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy. | Fifty miles to a hospital and to real shopping, and an economy that runs on a three month season. | Seventy minutes to Rapid City, 26 miles to a hospital, and an irrigation district assessment that attaches to the land as a lien. |
Where it sits
Regiondiffers
- Box Elder
- Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
- Edgemont
- Central and Southern Hills
- Wall
- Prairie and Badlands
- Newell
- Northern Hills and I-90
Countydiffers
- Box Elder
- Pennington County
- Edgemont
- Fall River County
- Wall
- Pennington County
- Newell
- Butte County
Jurisdictiondiffers
City versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.- Box Elder
- City of Box Elder
- Edgemont
- Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.
- Wall
- Incorporated town of Wall, with Pennington County outside the limits.
- Newell
- Incorporated municipality of Newell, with Butte County outside the limits.
Corridordiffers
- Box Elder
- I-90
- Edgemont
- US 18 and SD 471
- Wall
- I-90 exits 109 and 110
- Newell
- US 212 and SD 79
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers
- Box Elder
- 19 min, 10.9 miDriving 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.
- Newell
- About 54 miles, roughly 70 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers
- Box Elder
- 9 min, 2.3 miDriving 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.
- Newell
- About 60 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
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.
- 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.
- Newell
- US 212 and SD 79 are state maintained, and the state rebuilt the Nisland to Newell stretch and the south junction in 2025. Off the highway it is open country and wind moves snow.
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.
- 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.
- Newell
- No figure published. Newell is Mount Rushmore Area MLS territory and the current feed covers only the Black Hills MLS, so any count from that feed is a floor rather than this town's price level.
Housing agediffers
- Box Elder
- Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement
- 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.
- Newell
- A 1910 townsite, so genuinely old in-town stock with newer building scattered around it.
New constructiondiffers
- Box Elder
- Active, with subdivisions still building
- Edgemont
- None underway
- Wall
- Limited, mostly infill and small projects
- Newell
- Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Acreagediffers
- Box Elder
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.
- Edgemont
- Acreage parcels are common here
- Wall
- Acreage parcels are common here
- Newell
- Acreage parcels are common here
Typical lotdiffers
- Box Elder
- Small city lots, about 0.15 to 0.18 acres in the newer plats
- Edgemont
- Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.
- Wall
- Platted town lots, and then it jumps straight to ranch scale.
- Newell
- Small townsite lots, then irrigated project acreage, then rangeland, in that order as you drive out.
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.
- Edgemont
- Few plats here carry recorded covenants
- Wall
- Few plats here carry recorded covenants
- Newell
- Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers
- Box Elder
- City water and sewer inside the limits
- Edgemont
- City water and sewer inside the limits
- Wall
- City water and sewer inside the limits
- Newell
- Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Waterdiffers
- Box Elder
- City of Box Elder municipal
- 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.
- Newell
- Town of Newell municipal water inside the limits, from groundwater, serving about 378 connections. Rural properties are on the Butte-Meade Sanitary Water District or on private wells. Irrigation water from the Belle Fourche Irrigation District is an entirely separate thing from domestic water.
Sewerdiffers
- Box Elder
- City of Box Elder municipal
- Edgemont
- City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.
- Wall
- Town sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.
- Newell
- Municipal sewer inside the limits, billed monthly alongside water. Rural parcels are on private septic.
Short term rentalsdiffers
- Box Elder
- A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up.
- 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.
- Newell
- Newell is an agricultural town rather than a tourism town. Short-term rental demand here is hunting season, Rally week and ag events, not year-round visitors.
Schools
School districtdiffers
- Box Elder
- Douglas School District 51-1Assignment 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.
- Wall
- Wall School District 51-5Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
- Newell
- Newell School District 09-2Assignment 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.
- 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.
- Newell
- A grocery store and a hardware store in town, with Belle Fourche about 25 miles for anything larger.
Healthcarediffers
- Box Elder
- Monument Health Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City.
- 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.
- Newell
- No hospital or clinic in Newell. Sturgis is about 26 miles, Spearfish about 37, and Monument Health has a clinic in Belle Fourche.
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.
- 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.
- Newell
- A nine-hole golf course, the Newell Museum, the Belle Fourche Reservoir north of town, and hunting in every direction.
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.
- Edgemont
- No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
- Wall
- No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
- Newell
- 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.
- 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.
- Newell
- A federal reclamation townsite from 1910 at the center of a 57,000 acre irrigation project, with a sale barn and its own school.
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.
- 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.
- Newell
- A complete small town with its own K through 12 school and irrigated ground around it, at prices the Hills corridor cannot touch.
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.
- 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.
- Newell
- Seventy minutes to Rapid City, 26 miles to a hospital, and an irrigation district assessment that attaches to the land as a lien.
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.
