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.

Narrow it

6 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

Find a community

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.

Black Hawk
Typical price
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.
To Ellsworth AFB
About 30 minutes, the same I-90 run as Summerset just northDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
About 12 to 15 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Utility pattern
Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
School district
Rapid City Area Schools 51-4 for most addressesAssignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide
Box Elder
Typical price
$340k to $400kMedian sold $367,000. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 235 closed sales.
To Ellsworth AFB
9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
19 min, 10.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Utility pattern
City water and sewer inside the limits
School district
Douglas School District 51-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Selected Guide
Green Valley
Typical price
No published median exists for the community. Closed sales on the specific street are the only figure worth quoting here.
To Ellsworth AFB
About 15 minutes northDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
About 6 miles northwestDistance 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
Split between Douglas 51-1 and Rapid City Area 51-4. Address specific.Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide
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
Rapid Valley
Typical price
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.
To Ellsworth AFB
22 min, 10.4 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
11 min, 5.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Utility pattern
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.
School 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.
4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide
Summerset
Typical price
Builder inventory sets the level here, and the MLS publishes no Summerset median on its own.
To Ellsworth AFB
30 min, 19.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
15 min, 10.0 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Utility pattern
Sewer collection is provided by the City of Summerset. Water service varies by address and can include Black Hawk Water User District or Diamond D Water in Sun Valley.
School district
Meade 46-1 and Rapid City Area Schools 51-4, split within the cityAssignment 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, St. Onge, Buffalo Gap, Spearfish

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 corridorSt. OngeNorthern Hills and I-90Buffalo GapCentral and Southern HillsSpearfishNorthern Hills and I-90
County: Box ElderPennington CountySt. OngeLawrence CountyBuffalo GapCuster CountySpearfishLawrence County
Jurisdiction: Box ElderCity of Box ElderSt. OngeUnincorporated. No town government. Lawrence County zones the parcels and the Sheriff patrols them.Buffalo GapIncorporated town of Buffalo Gap, with Custer County outside the limits.SpearfishNot recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
Corridor: Box ElderI-90St. OngeSD 34, with I-90 seven miles southeast at WhitewoodBuffalo GapSD 79SpearfishI-90
To downtown Rapid City: Box Elder19 min, 10.9 miSt. OngeAbout 44 miles, roughly 48 minutesBuffalo GapAbout 45 miles, roughly 56 minutesSpearfish53 min, 47.8 mi
To Ellsworth AFB: Box Elder9 min, 2.3 miSt. OngeAbout 45 milesBuffalo GapAbout 55 milesSpearfish68 min, 57.0 mi

Side by side

Box Elder, St. Onge, Buffalo Gap, Spearfish

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	Northern Hills and I-90St. Onge	Central and Southern HillsBuffalo Gap	Northern Hills and I-90Spearfish
Where it sits
Regiondiffers	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor	Northern Hills and I-90	Central and Southern Hills	Northern Hills and I-90
Countydiffers	Pennington County	Lawrence County	Custer County	Lawrence County
JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.	City of Box Elder	Unincorporated. No town government. Lawrence County zones the parcels and the Sheriff patrols them.	Incorporated town of Buffalo Gap, with Custer County outside the limits.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
Corridordiffers	I-90	SD 34, with I-90 seven miles southeast at Whitewood	SD 79	I-90
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers	19 min, 10.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 44 miles, roughly 48 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 45 miles, roughly 56 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	53 min, 47.8 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers	9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 45 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.	About 55 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.	68 min, 57.0 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.	Highway 34 is state maintained and connects three directions. County and private roads off it are a different conversation.	Highway 79 is state maintained and is the connection to Hot Springs and Rapid City. Off it, this is open prairie with blowing snow.	Chinook winds off the hills are a genuine feature of winter in this corridor.
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.	No figure published. St. Onge is Mount Rushmore Area MLS territory and the current feed covers only the Black Hills MLS, so a zero here would be a gap in the data rather than a fact about the market.	One single family sale shows in the Black Hills MLS over 24 months, at $80,000. One closing is a sample of one rather than a price level, so read it that way.	$400k to $600kMedian sold $475,000. Mount Rushmore Area MLS, all residential, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 199 closed sales.
Housing agediffers	Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement	An 1891 townsite with genuinely old buildings, surrounded by ranch and acreage property of every era.	An 1885 to 1939 historic core with an aging housing stock and about a fifth of units vacant.	Older stock in the middle, edge subdivisions built 1996 to 2023
New constructiondiffers	Active, with subdivisions still building	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	None underway	New construction remains active on the edges of town, including areas such as Sky Ridge and other newer developments.
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 is available around Spearfish, primarily on surrounding Lawrence County ground rather than in the city core.
Typical lotdiffers	Small city lots, about 0.15 to 0.18 acres in the newer plats	Small townsite lots, with acreage and ranch ground around them.	A handful of historic townsite lots, with grassland and ranch ground around 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.	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	Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers	City water and sewer inside the limits	Mostly private well and septic	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it	City water and sewer are typical inside city-served areas. Acreage outside the city can use wells, septic systems or other service arrangements, so utilities should be confirmed by address.
Waterdiffers	City of Box Elder municipal	The Saint Onge Sewer and Water Company serves about 78 connections around the townsite, with a clean compliance record. Parcels outside that system are on private wells. There is no rural water district covering this area.	Town of Buffalo Gap municipal water from a single well, serving about 93 connections. Rural parcels are on private wells.	City water inside the Spearfish limits. Acreage outside the limits runs on a private well or a rural water district.Read off the townwide utility pattern in the guide. The service address controls, so confirm the provider before you write an offer.
Sewerdiffers	City of Box Elder municipal	The water company's name implies sewer service, but I have not been able to verify from the public record which parcels it reaches. Assume private septic outside the townsite and confirm the rest before closing.	Not documented in the public record. There is no municipal wastewater project or discharge permit on file that I could find. Confirm with the town finance officer before assuming either town sewer or septic.	City sewer inside the Spearfish limits, private septic on acreage 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	A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up.	Unincorporated Lawrence County, so no municipal ordinance applies. Note that unincorporated Lawrence County declined to require a vacation home rental permit, so there is no county permit to obtain either.	This is hunting and grassland country rather than a tourism corridor. Demand is seasonal and specific.	The city studied rules in 2023 and 2024 and maintains an official short term rental page. Verify the current ordinance first.
Schools
School districtdiffers	Douglas School District 51-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.	Spearfish 40-2 at the townsite, with Belle Fourche 09-1 to the north and Meade 46-1 to the east. Parcel specific.Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.	Hot Springs School District 23-2, despite the town being in Custer CountyAssignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.	Spearfish School District 40-2Assignment 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.	Nothing in town. Spearfish is eleven miles southeast and Belle Fourche thirteen northwest.	Nothing full service in town. Hot Springs, about 14 miles south, is where errands happen.	Full-service grocery options in town include Walmart, Safeway and Lueders Food Centers.
Healthcarediffers	Monument Health Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City.	Monument Health Spearfish Hospital, a 35 bed facility with a 24 hour emergency department, about 18 minutes away.	Fall River Health Services in Hot Springs, a 25 bed critical access hospital with a 24 hour emergency department and a rural health clinic, about 18 minutes away.	Monument Health Spearfish Hospital and outpatient clinics are in town.
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.	Creek bottoms, hay ground and hunting country, with Spearfish Canyon and the northern Hills half an hour away.	Buffalo Gap National Grassland, hunting, rock collecting and OHV country, with the Cheyenne River nearby.	D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery, Black Hills State University events, and Terry Peak and Deadwood a short drive south.
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.	25 mapped outlines, 13 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.
The trade
Housing and patterndiffers	A young city building its first downtown at Liberty Plaza on 110 acres, with roughly 800 residential units planned.	An 1891 French-Canadian railroad townsite that is now a cattle auction crossroads and an acreage corridor.	A nearly intact turn-of-the-century western streetscape on the National Register, mostly quiet, at the gate to the grassland.	A university town with a walkable middle, growing fast enough that new construction has moved to the edges.
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.	The cheapest ground in the northern Hills that still puts you eleven miles from a hospital and sixteen from three towns.	Eighteen minutes from the hospital in Hot Springs, with 600,000 acres of grassland out the door and one MLS closing in two years to price from.	A downtown you can walk across, Black Hills State and Spearfish Canyon out the back door, on city water and sewer.
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 three-way school district split you have to verify per parcel, and no services of any kind in town.	No school, no store and no services in town, an aging water system with an open compliance item, and an undocumented sewer situation.	The highest median sold price of the region's higher volume markets at $475,000 across 199 sales, and Rapid City is 53 minutes on the interstate with the Ellsworth gate 68.

Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBox Elder
Northern Hills and I-90St. Onge
Central and Southern HillsBuffalo Gap
Northern Hills and I-90Spearfish

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

Box Elder: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
St. Onge: Northern Hills and I-90
Buffalo Gap: Central and Southern Hills
Spearfish: Northern Hills and I-90

Countydiffers

Box Elder: Pennington County
St. Onge: Lawrence County
Buffalo Gap: Custer County
Spearfish: Lawrence County

Jurisdictiondiffers

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

Box Elder: City of Box Elder
St. Onge: Unincorporated. No town government. Lawrence County zones the parcels and the Sheriff patrols them.
Buffalo Gap: Incorporated town of Buffalo Gap, with Custer County outside the limits.
Spearfish: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.

Corridordiffers

Box Elder: I-90
St. Onge: SD 34, with I-90 seven miles southeast at Whitewood
Buffalo Gap: SD 79
Spearfish: I-90

To downtown Rapid Citydiffers

Box Elder: 19 min, 10.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
St. Onge: About 44 miles, roughly 48 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Buffalo Gap: About 45 miles, roughly 56 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Spearfish: 53 min, 47.8 miDriving time and distance, off peak.

To Ellsworth AFBdiffers

Box Elder: 9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
St. Onge: About 45 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
Buffalo Gap: About 55 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
Spearfish: 68 min, 57.0 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.
St. Onge: Highway 34 is state maintained and connects three directions. County and private roads off it are a different conversation.
Buffalo Gap: Highway 79 is state maintained and is the connection to Hot Springs and Rapid City. Off it, this is open prairie with blowing snow.
Spearfish: Chinook winds off the hills are a genuine feature of winter in this corridor.

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.
St. Onge: No figure published. St. Onge is Mount Rushmore Area MLS territory and the current feed covers only the Black Hills MLS, so a zero here would be a gap in the data rather than a fact about the market.
Buffalo Gap: One single family sale shows in the Black Hills MLS over 24 months, at $80,000. One closing is a sample of one rather than a price level, so read it that way.
Spearfish: $400k to $600kMedian sold $475,000. Mount Rushmore Area MLS, all residential, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 199 closed sales.

Housing agediffers

Box Elder: Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement
St. Onge: An 1891 townsite with genuinely old buildings, surrounded by ranch and acreage property of every era.
Buffalo Gap: An 1885 to 1939 historic core with an aging housing stock and about a fifth of units vacant.
Spearfish: Older stock in the middle, edge subdivisions built 1996 to 2023

New constructiondiffers

Box Elder: Active, with subdivisions still building
St. Onge: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Buffalo Gap: None underway
Spearfish: New construction remains active on the edges of town, including areas such as Sky Ridge and other newer developments.

Acreagediffers

Box Elder: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.
St. Onge: Acreage parcels are common here
Buffalo Gap: Acreage parcels are common here
Spearfish: Acreage is available around Spearfish, primarily on surrounding Lawrence County ground rather than in the city core.

Typical lotdiffers

Box Elder: Small city lots, about 0.15 to 0.18 acres in the newer plats
St. Onge: Small townsite lots, with acreage and ranch ground around them.
Buffalo Gap: A handful of historic townsite lots, with grassland and ranch ground around them.
Spearfish: 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.

Box Elder: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
St. Onge: Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Buffalo Gap: Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Spearfish: Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others

Utilities and rules

Utility patterndiffers

Box Elder: City water and sewer inside the limits
St. Onge: Mostly private well and septic
Buffalo Gap: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Spearfish: City water and sewer are typical inside city-served areas. Acreage outside the city can use wells, septic systems or other service arrangements, so utilities should be confirmed by address.

Waterdiffers

Box Elder: City of Box Elder municipal
St. Onge: The Saint Onge Sewer and Water Company serves about 78 connections around the townsite, with a clean compliance record. Parcels outside that system are on private wells. There is no rural water district covering this area.
Buffalo Gap: Town of Buffalo Gap municipal water from a single well, serving about 93 connections. Rural parcels are on private wells.
Spearfish: City water inside the Spearfish limits. Acreage outside the limits runs on a private well or a rural water district.Read off the townwide utility pattern in the guide. The service address controls, so confirm the provider before you write an offer.

Sewerdiffers

Box Elder: City of Box Elder municipal
St. Onge: The water company's name implies sewer service, but I have not been able to verify from the public record which parcels it reaches. Assume private septic outside the townsite and confirm the rest before closing.
Buffalo Gap: Not documented in the public record. There is no municipal wastewater project or discharge permit on file that I could find. Confirm with the town finance officer before assuming either town sewer or septic.
Spearfish: City sewer inside the Spearfish limits, private septic on acreage 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

Box Elder: A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up.
St. Onge: Unincorporated Lawrence County, so no municipal ordinance applies. Note that unincorporated Lawrence County declined to require a vacation home rental permit, so there is no county permit to obtain either.
Buffalo Gap: This is hunting and grassland country rather than a tourism corridor. Demand is seasonal and specific.
Spearfish: The city studied rules in 2023 and 2024 and maintains an official short term rental page. Verify the current ordinance first.

Schools

School districtdiffers

Box Elder: Douglas School District 51-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
St. Onge: Spearfish 40-2 at the townsite, with Belle Fourche 09-1 to the north and Meade 46-1 to the east. Parcel specific.Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Buffalo Gap: Hot Springs School District 23-2, despite the town being in Custer CountyAssignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Spearfish: Spearfish School District 40-2Assignment 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.
St. Onge: Nothing in town. Spearfish is eleven miles southeast and Belle Fourche thirteen northwest.
Buffalo Gap: Nothing full service in town. Hot Springs, about 14 miles south, is where errands happen.
Spearfish: Full-service grocery options in town include Walmart, Safeway and Lueders Food Centers.

Healthcarediffers

Box Elder: Monument Health Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City.
St. Onge: Monument Health Spearfish Hospital, a 35 bed facility with a 24 hour emergency department, about 18 minutes away.
Buffalo Gap: Fall River Health Services in Hot Springs, a 25 bed critical access hospital with a 24 hour emergency department and a rural health clinic, about 18 minutes away.
Spearfish: Monument Health Spearfish Hospital and outpatient clinics are in town.

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.
St. Onge: Creek bottoms, hay ground and hunting country, with Spearfish Canyon and the northern Hills half an hour away.
Buffalo Gap: Buffalo Gap National Grassland, hunting, rock collecting and OHV country, with the Cheyenne River nearby.
Spearfish: D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery, Black Hills State University events, and Terry Peak and Deadwood a short drive south.

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.
St. Onge: No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
Buffalo Gap: No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
Spearfish: 25 mapped outlines, 13 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.

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.
St. Onge: An 1891 French-Canadian railroad townsite that is now a cattle auction crossroads and an acreage corridor.
Buffalo Gap: A nearly intact turn-of-the-century western streetscape on the National Register, mostly quiet, at the gate to the grassland.
Spearfish: A university town with a walkable middle, growing fast enough that new construction has moved to the edges.

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.
St. Onge: The cheapest ground in the northern Hills that still puts you eleven miles from a hospital and sixteen from three towns.
Buffalo Gap: Eighteen minutes from the hospital in Hot Springs, with 600,000 acres of grassland out the door and one MLS closing in two years to price from.
Spearfish: A downtown you can walk across, Black Hills State and Spearfish Canyon out the back door, on city water and sewer.

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.
St. Onge: A three-way school district split you have to verify per parcel, and no services of any kind in town.
Buffalo Gap: No school, no store and no services in town, an aging water system with an open compliance item, and an undocumented sewer situation.
Spearfish: The highest median sold price of the region's higher volume markets at $475,000 across 199 sales, and Rapid City is 53 minutes on the interstate with the Ellsworth gate 68.

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

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ComparingBox Elder, St. Onge, Buffalo Gap, Spearfish

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