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, 3 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.
Compare Guide

What changes

Between Buffalo Gap, Black Hawk, Edgemont

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

Region: Buffalo GapCentral and Southern HillsBlack HawkRapid City and the Ellsworth corridorEdgemontCentral and Southern Hills
County: Buffalo GapCuster CountyBlack HawkMeade CountyEdgemontFall River County
Jurisdiction: Buffalo GapIncorporated town of Buffalo Gap, with Custer County outside the limits.Black HawkUnincorporated Meade CountyEdgemontIncorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.
Corridor: Buffalo GapSD 79Black HawkI-90EdgemontUS 18 and SD 471
To downtown Rapid City: Buffalo GapAbout 45 miles, roughly 56 minutesBlack HawkAbout 12 to 15 minutesEdgemontAbout 100 miles northeast
To Ellsworth AFB: Buffalo GapAbout 55 milesBlack HawkAbout 30 minutes, the same I-90 run as Summerset just northEdgemontAbout 110 miles

Side by side

Buffalo Gap, Black Hawk, Edgemont

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	Central and Southern HillsBuffalo Gap	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBlack Hawk	Central and Southern HillsEdgemont
Where it sits
Regiondiffers	Central and Southern Hills	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor	Central and Southern Hills
Countydiffers	Custer County	Meade County	Fall River County
JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.	Incorporated town of Buffalo Gap, with Custer County outside the limits.	Unincorporated Meade County	Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.
Corridordiffers	SD 79	I-90	US 18 and SD 471
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers	About 45 miles, roughly 56 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 12 to 15 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.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers	About 55 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.	About 30 minutes, the same I-90 run as Summerset just northDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 110 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
Winter drivingdiffers	Highway 79 is state maintained and is the connection to Hot Springs and Rapid City. Off it, this is open prairie with blowing snow.	The road out front may be maintained publicly or by the neighborhood, so ask who plows before you buy.	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.
Housing and lots
Typical pricediffers	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.	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.	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.
Housing agediffers	An 1885 to 1939 historic core with an aging housing stock and about a fifth of units vacant.	Mixed street to street, sometimes neighbor to neighbor	An 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count.
New constructiondiffers	None underway	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	None underway
Acreagediffers	Acreage parcels are common here	Larger lots and acre properties are part of the Black Hawk market, including properties with room for shops and outbuildings.	Acreage parcels are common here
Typical lotdiffers	A handful of historic townsite lots, with grassland and ranch ground around them.	Bigger lots, with shop space and outbuildings normal	Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.
Covenants and HOAdiffersCovenants are recorded per plat. The title commitment lists what binds the parcel.	Few plats here carry recorded covenants	Recorded covenants on some plats, none on othersRecorded covenants vary by subdivision and should be checked for the specific property.	Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it	City water and sewer inside the limits
Waterdiffers	Town of Buffalo Gap municipal water from a single well, serving about 93 connections. Rural parcels are on private wells.	Black Hawk Water User District	City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.
Sewerdiffers	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.	Black Hawk Sanitary District serves roughly 200 homes and businesses; properties outside the district are on private septic	City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.
Short term rentalsdiffers	This is hunting and grassland country rather than a tourism corridor. Demand is seasonal and specific.	No municipal short term rental ordinance, because there is no municipality. State licensing still applies, and the subdivision covenant usually decides.	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.
Schools
School districtdiffers	Hot Springs School District 23-2, despite the town being in Custer CountyAssignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.	Rapid City Area Schools 51-4 for most addressesAssignment 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.
Daily errands
Groceriesdiffers	Nothing full service in town. Hot Springs, about 14 miles south, is where errands happen.	No full-service grocery store is in Black Hawk. Most larger grocery trips go into Rapid City.	Small-town grocery and convenience in Edgemont, with Hot Springs about 35 miles east for more.
Healthcarediffers	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 Rapid City Hospital	No hospital in town. Fall River Health Services in Hot Springs is a 25 bed critical access hospital with a 24 hour emergency department.
Recreationdiffers	Buffalo Gap National Grassland, hunting, rock collecting and OHV country, with the Cheyenne River nearby.	Piedmont and the Stagebarn area are just north, with the central hills close enough for a half day.	The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction.
Mapped subdivisions
Outlines on filediffers	No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.	12 mapped outlines, 5 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.
The trade
Housing and patterndiffers	A nearly intact turn-of-the-century western streetscape on the National Register, mostly quiet, at the gate to the grassland.	Unincorporated foothills pockets where lot size, home age and outbuildings change from one parcel to the next.	A working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains.
What you gaindiffers	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.	Bigger lots, room for a shop, and about 12 to 15 minutes to downtown Rapid City, without a city hall setting the local rules.	More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities.
What you give updiffers	No school, no store and no services in town, an aging water system with an open compliance item, and an undocumented sewer situation.	There is no city hall, so the subdivision covenant decides what you can build or rent, and water, sewer and road maintenance all change parcel to parcel.	A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy.

Central and Southern HillsBuffalo Gap
Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBlack Hawk
Central and Southern HillsEdgemont

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

Buffalo Gap: Central and Southern Hills
Black Hawk: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Edgemont: Central and Southern Hills

Countydiffers

Buffalo Gap: Custer County
Black Hawk: Meade County
Edgemont: Fall River County

Jurisdictiondiffers

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

Buffalo Gap: Incorporated town of Buffalo Gap, with Custer County outside the limits.
Black Hawk: Unincorporated Meade County
Edgemont: Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.

Corridordiffers

Buffalo Gap: SD 79
Black Hawk: I-90
Edgemont: US 18 and SD 471

To downtown Rapid Citydiffers

Buffalo Gap: About 45 miles, roughly 56 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Black Hawk: About 12 to 15 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.

To Ellsworth AFBdiffers

Buffalo Gap: About 55 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
Black Hawk: About 30 minutes, the same I-90 run as Summerset just northDriving time and distance, off peak.
Edgemont: About 110 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.

Winter drivingdiffers

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.
Black Hawk: The road out front may be maintained publicly or by the neighborhood, so ask who plows before you buy.
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.

Housing and lots

Typical pricediffers

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.
Black Hawk: 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.
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.

Housing agediffers

Buffalo Gap: An 1885 to 1939 historic core with an aging housing stock and about a fifth of units vacant.
Black Hawk: Mixed street to street, sometimes neighbor to neighbor
Edgemont: An 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count.

New constructiondiffers

Buffalo Gap: None underway
Black Hawk: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Edgemont: None underway

Acreagediffers

Buffalo Gap: Acreage parcels are common here
Black Hawk: Larger lots and acre properties are part of the Black Hawk market, including properties with room for shops and outbuildings.
Edgemont: Acreage parcels are common here

Typical lotdiffers

Buffalo Gap: A handful of historic townsite lots, with grassland and ranch ground around them.
Black Hawk: Bigger lots, with shop space and outbuildings normal
Edgemont: Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.

Covenants and HOAdiffers

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

Buffalo Gap: Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Black Hawk: Recorded covenants on some plats, none on othersRecorded covenants vary by subdivision and should be checked for the specific property.
Edgemont: Few plats here carry recorded covenants

Utilities and rules

Utility patterndiffers

Buffalo Gap: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Black Hawk: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Edgemont: City water and sewer inside the limits

Waterdiffers

Buffalo Gap: Town of Buffalo Gap municipal water from a single well, serving about 93 connections. Rural parcels are on private wells.
Black Hawk: Black Hawk Water User District
Edgemont: City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.

Sewerdiffers

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.
Black Hawk: Black Hawk Sanitary District serves roughly 200 homes and businesses; properties outside the district are on private septic
Edgemont: City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.

Short term rentalsdiffers

Buffalo Gap: This is hunting and grassland country rather than a tourism corridor. Demand is seasonal and specific.
Black Hawk: No municipal short term rental ordinance, because there is no municipality. State licensing still applies, and the subdivision covenant usually decides.
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.

Schools

School districtdiffers

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.
Black Hawk: Rapid City Area Schools 51-4 for most addressesAssignment 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.

Daily errands

Groceriesdiffers

Buffalo Gap: Nothing full service in town. Hot Springs, about 14 miles south, is where errands happen.
Black Hawk: No full-service grocery store is in Black Hawk. Most larger grocery trips go into Rapid City.
Edgemont: Small-town grocery and convenience in Edgemont, with Hot Springs about 35 miles east for more.

Healthcarediffers

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.
Black Hawk: Monument Health Rapid City Hospital
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.

Recreationdiffers

Buffalo Gap: Buffalo Gap National Grassland, hunting, rock collecting and OHV country, with the Cheyenne River nearby.
Black Hawk: Piedmont and the Stagebarn area are just north, with the central hills close enough for a half day.
Edgemont: The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction.

Mapped subdivisions

Outlines on filediffers

Buffalo Gap: No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
Black Hawk: 12 mapped outlines, 5 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.

The trade

Housing and patterndiffers

Buffalo Gap: A nearly intact turn-of-the-century western streetscape on the National Register, mostly quiet, at the gate to the grassland.
Black Hawk: Unincorporated foothills pockets where lot size, home age and outbuildings change from one parcel to the next.
Edgemont: A working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains.

What you gaindiffers

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.
Black Hawk: Bigger lots, room for a shop, and about 12 to 15 minutes to downtown Rapid City, without a city hall setting the local rules.
Edgemont: More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities.

What you give updiffers

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.
Black Hawk: There is no city hall, so the subdivision covenant decides what you can build or rent, and water, sewer and road maintenance all change parcel to parcel.
Edgemont: A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy.

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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ComparingBuffalo Gap, Black Hawk, Edgemont

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