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.
6 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Between Box Elder, Whitewood
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 corridorWhitewoodNorthern Hills and I-90
- County
- Box ElderPennington CountyWhitewoodLawrence County
- Jurisdiction
- Box ElderCity of Box ElderWhitewoodNot recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
- Corridor
- Box ElderI-90WhitewoodI-90 and US-85
- To downtown Rapid City
- Box Elder19 min, 10.9 miWhitewoodAbout 35 minutes
- To Ellsworth AFB
- Box Elder9 min, 2.3 miWhitewoodAbout 40 minutes
Box Elder, Whitewood
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 | Northern Hills and I-90Whitewood | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | ||
| Regiondiffers | Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor | Northern Hills and I-90 |
| Countydiffers | Pennington County | Lawrence 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. |
| Corridordiffers | I-90 | I-90 and US-85 |
| To downtown Rapid Citydiffers | 19 min, 10.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak. | About 35 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak. |
| To Ellsworth AFBdiffers | 9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak. | About 40 minutesDriving 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. | I-90 and US-85 are state maintained. The town streets and the roads out past them clear on their own schedule. |
| 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 town median is published for Whitewood, and it sits in Lawrence County, which the Mount Rushmore Area MLS covers rather than the Black Hills feed behind the figures here. Prices sit under Sturgis, Spearfish and Deadwood, each about ten minutes out. |
| Housing agediffers | Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement | Older and modest through town, so systems matter more than finishes. |
| New constructiondiffers | Active, with subdivisions still building | Limited, mostly infill and small projects |
| 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. |
| Utilities and rules | ||
| Utility patterndiffers | City water and sewer inside the limits | Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Short term rentalsdiffers | A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up. | No short term rental provisions in the city code, and Rally season renting is common here under state rules. |
| Schools | ||
| School districtdiffers | Douglas School District 51-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district. | Meade School District 46-1, despite being in Lawrence CountyAssignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district. |
| Daily errands | ||
| Groceriesdiffers | Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town. | No full-service grocery store is in Whitewood. Most larger grocery trips go to Sturgis or Spearfish. |
| Healthcarediffers | Monument Health Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City. | Monument Health Sturgis HospitalNo hospital in Whitewood. Sturgis is the nearer of the two, with Spearfish next. |
| 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. | Sturgis and Bear Butte State Park about eight miles east, Deadwood 10 to 12 miles southwest, Spearfish and Spearfish Canyon 10 to 12 miles northwest. |
| 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. | 23 mapped outlines, 0 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. | A quiet main street with Sturgis, Spearfish and Deadwood each about ten minutes out and the interstate right there. |
| 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. | Small town prices with three larger towns about ten minutes out in three directions, in Meade 46-1 despite sitting in Lawrence County. |
| 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. | Anything past the basics is a drive to Sturgis, Spearfish or Deadwood, and there are no published MLS figures for the town on its own. |
- Northern Hills and I-90Whitewood
Where it sits
Regiondiffers
- Box Elder
- Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
- Whitewood
- Northern Hills and I-90
Countydiffers
- Box Elder
- Pennington County
- Whitewood
- Lawrence County
Jurisdictiondiffers
City versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.- Box Elder
- City of Box Elder
- Whitewood
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
Corridordiffers
- Box Elder
- I-90
- Whitewood
- I-90 and US-85
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers
- Box Elder
- 19 min, 10.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
- Whitewood
- About 35 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers
- Box Elder
- 9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
- Whitewood
- About 40 minutesDriving 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.
- Whitewood
- I-90 and US-85 are state maintained. The town streets and the roads out past them clear on their own schedule.
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.
- Whitewood
- No town median is published for Whitewood, and it sits in Lawrence County, which the Mount Rushmore Area MLS covers rather than the Black Hills feed behind the figures here. Prices sit under Sturgis, Spearfish and Deadwood, each about ten minutes out.
Housing agediffers
- Box Elder
- Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement
- Whitewood
- Older and modest through town, so systems matter more than finishes.
New constructiondiffers
- Box Elder
- Active, with subdivisions still building
- Whitewood
- Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Typical lotdiffers
- Box Elder
- Small city lots, about 0.15 to 0.18 acres in the newer plats
- Whitewood
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers
- Box Elder
- City water and sewer inside the limits
- Whitewood
- Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Waterdiffers
- Box Elder
- City of Box Elder municipal
- Whitewood
- Municipal water inside the limits, a private well or a district system outside them.Read off the townwide utility pattern in the guide. The service address controls, so confirm the provider before you write an offer.
Sewerdiffers
- Box Elder
- City of Box Elder municipal
- Whitewood
- City sewer inside the limits, private septic outside them.Read off the townwide utility pattern in the guide. The service address controls, so confirm the provider before you write an offer.
Short term rentalsdiffers
- Box Elder
- A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up.
- Whitewood
- No short term rental provisions in the city code, and Rally season renting is common here under state rules.
Schools
School districtdiffers
- Box Elder
- Douglas School District 51-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
- Whitewood
- Meade School District 46-1, despite being in Lawrence CountyAssignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Daily errands
Groceriesdiffers
- Box Elder
- Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.
- Whitewood
- No full-service grocery store is in Whitewood. Most larger grocery trips go to Sturgis or Spearfish.
Healthcarediffers
- Box Elder
- Monument Health Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City.
- Whitewood
- Monument Health Sturgis HospitalNo hospital in Whitewood. Sturgis is the nearer of the two, with Spearfish next.
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.
- Whitewood
- Sturgis and Bear Butte State Park about eight miles east, Deadwood 10 to 12 miles southwest, Spearfish and Spearfish Canyon 10 to 12 miles northwest.
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.
- Whitewood
- 23 mapped outlines, 0 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.
- Whitewood
- A quiet main street with Sturgis, Spearfish and Deadwood each about ten minutes out and the interstate right there.
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.
- Whitewood
- Small town prices with three larger towns about ten minutes out in three directions, in Meade 46-1 despite sitting in Lawrence County.
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.
- Whitewood
- Anything past the basics is a drive to Sturgis, Spearfish or Deadwood, and there are no published MLS figures for the town on its own.
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.
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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.