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, Custer, Colonial Pine Hills

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 HillsCusterCentral and Southern HillsColonial Pine HillsRapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
County: Buffalo GapCuster CountyCusterCuster CountyColonial Pine HillsPennington County
Jurisdiction: Buffalo GapIncorporated town of Buffalo Gap, with Custer County outside the limits.CusterNot recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.Colonial Pine HillsUnincorporated. There is no city government. Pennington County zones the lots, issues the permits and patrols the roads.
Corridor: Buffalo GapSD 79CusterUS-16Colonial Pine HillsUS 16 and Sheridan Lake Road
To downtown Rapid City: Buffalo GapAbout 45 miles, roughly 56 minutesCusterAbout 50 to 60 minutesColonial Pine HillsRoughly 6 miles northeast
To Ellsworth AFB: Buffalo GapAbout 55 milesCusterAbout an hour and ten minutesColonial Pine HillsAbout 25 to 30 minutes, through or around Rapid City

Side by side

Buffalo Gap, Custer, Colonial Pine Hills

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	Central and Southern HillsCuster	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorColonial Pine Hills
Where it sits
Regiondiffers	Central and Southern Hills	Central and Southern Hills	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Countydiffers	Custer County	Custer County	Pennington County
JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.	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.	Unincorporated. There is no city government. Pennington County zones the lots, issues the permits and patrols the roads.
Corridordiffers	SD 79	US-16	US 16 and Sheridan Lake Road
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers	About 45 miles, roughly 56 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 50 to 60 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	Roughly 6 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 an hour and ten minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 25 to 30 minutes, through or around Rapid CityDriving time and distance, off peak.
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.	Winter roads are a genuine planning factor at this distance, and on acreage you need to know who maintains yours.	You are 900 feet above Rapid City on grades, and some subdivision roads are privately plowed. Snow tires are not a luxury item up here.
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.	Median sold $627,000Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 7 closed sales, small sample.	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.
Housing agediffers	An 1885 to 1939 historic core with an aging housing stock and about a fifth of units vacant.	Mixed ages. Older homes near the core, newer construction toward the edges.	Platted over several decades, so 1970s cabins and current builds sit on the same road.
New constructiondiffers	None underway	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Check current permits with the city or county.	Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Acreagediffers	Acreage parcels are common here	Acreage is common outside the city core, with wells and septic systems typical on many rural properties.	Acreage parcels are common here
Typical lotdiffers	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.	Large by Rapid City standards, from generous lots to several acres.
Covenants and HOAdiffersCovenants are recorded per plat. The title commitment lists what binds the parcel.	Few plats here carry recorded covenants	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.	Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others
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	Mostly private well and septic
Waterdiffers	Town of Buffalo Gap municipal water from a single well, serving about 93 connections. Rural parcels are on private wells.	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.	Depends entirely on the parcel. The Colonial Pine Hills Sanitary District serves roughly 430 connections. Several separate water associations serve other pockets, and the rest of the area is 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.	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.	Private on-site septic throughout, permitted by Pennington County. There is no municipal sewer and no lagoon serving the area.
Short term rentalsdiffers	This is hunting and grassland country rather than a tourism corridor. Demand is seasonal and specific.	Grandfathered permits are non transferable and expire when the property sells, and the rules flip at the city line.	This is unincorporated county, so there is no municipal short-term rental ordinance. County zoning and subdivision covenants are what govern, and the covenants out here are often stricter than the county.
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.	Custer School District 16-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.	Rapid City Area School District 51-4Assignment 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.	Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.	Everything is in Rapid City, roughly fifteen minutes down US 16.
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 Custer Hospital and clinic are in town.	No clinic up here. Monument Health Rapid City Hospital and the Rapid City clinics are the answer.
Recreationdiffers	Buffalo Gap National Grassland, hunting, rock collecting and OHV country, with the Cheyenne River nearby.	Custer State Park at the door, including Sylvan Lake, the Needles Highway, the wildlife loop and the September buffalo roundup.	Sheridan Lake, Pactola, the Mickelson Trail and the whole central Hills network start where the subdivisions end.
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.	A county seat at a park entrance, with a replacement Monument Health hospital and acreage starting just past the city limits.	Ponderosa pine subdivisions platted over decades, no two alike, on county rules six miles from the city.
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.	You are inside the Hills with real acreage, Custer State Park at the door, and a new hospital in a town of about 1,900.	Hills elevation, trees and lot size with a Rapid City commute and Rapid City schools.
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.	Rapid City is 50 to 60 minutes and Ellsworth over an hour, grandfathered rental permits expire when a property sells, and outside the city limits there are no county building codes.	Well or association water, septic on every parcel, private roads in places, and wildfire exposure that affects insurance.

Central and Southern HillsBuffalo Gap
Central and Southern HillsCuster
Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorColonial Pine Hills

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

Buffalo Gap: Central and Southern Hills
Custer: Central and Southern Hills
Colonial Pine Hills: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor

Countydiffers

Buffalo Gap: Custer County
Custer: Custer County
Colonial Pine Hills: Pennington 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.
Custer: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
Colonial Pine Hills: Unincorporated. There is no city government. Pennington County zones the lots, issues the permits and patrols the roads.

Corridordiffers

Buffalo Gap: SD 79
Custer: US-16
Colonial Pine Hills: US 16 and Sheridan Lake Road

To downtown Rapid Citydiffers

Buffalo Gap: About 45 miles, roughly 56 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Custer: About 50 to 60 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Colonial Pine Hills: Roughly 6 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.
Custer: About an hour and ten minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Colonial Pine Hills: About 25 to 30 minutes, through or around Rapid CityDriving time and distance, off peak.

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.
Custer: Winter roads are a genuine planning factor at this distance, and on acreage you need to know who maintains yours.
Colonial Pine Hills: You are 900 feet above Rapid City on grades, and some subdivision roads are privately plowed. Snow tires are not a luxury item up here.

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.
Custer: Median sold $627,000Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 7 closed sales, small sample.
Colonial Pine Hills: 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.

Housing agediffers

Buffalo Gap: An 1885 to 1939 historic core with an aging housing stock and about a fifth of units vacant.
Custer: Mixed ages. Older homes near the core, newer construction toward the edges.
Colonial Pine Hills: Platted over several decades, so 1970s cabins and current builds sit on the same road.

New constructiondiffers

Buffalo Gap: None underway
Custer: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Check current permits with the city or county.
Colonial Pine Hills: Limited, mostly infill and small projects

Acreagediffers

Buffalo Gap: Acreage parcels are common here
Custer: Acreage is common outside the city core, with wells and septic systems typical on many rural properties.
Colonial Pine Hills: Acreage parcels are common here

Typical lotdiffers

Buffalo Gap: A handful of historic townsite lots, with grassland and ranch ground around them.
Custer: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.
Colonial Pine Hills: Large by Rapid City standards, from generous lots to several acres.

Covenants and HOAdiffers

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

Buffalo Gap: Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Custer: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
Colonial Pine Hills: Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others

Utilities and rules

Utility patterndiffers

Buffalo Gap: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Custer: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Colonial Pine Hills: Mostly private well and septic

Waterdiffers

Buffalo Gap: Town of Buffalo Gap municipal water from a single well, serving about 93 connections. Rural parcels are on private wells.
Custer: Municipal water inside the limits, a private well or a district system outside them.Read off the townwide utility pattern in the guide. The service address controls, so confirm the provider before you write an offer.
Colonial Pine Hills: Depends entirely on the parcel. The Colonial Pine Hills Sanitary District serves roughly 430 connections. Several separate water associations serve other pockets, and the rest of the area is 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.
Custer: City sewer inside the limits, private septic outside them.Read off the townwide utility pattern in the guide. The service address controls, so confirm the provider before you write an offer.
Colonial Pine Hills: Private on-site septic throughout, permitted by Pennington County. There is no municipal sewer and no lagoon serving the area.

Short term rentalsdiffers

Buffalo Gap: This is hunting and grassland country rather than a tourism corridor. Demand is seasonal and specific.
Custer: Grandfathered permits are non transferable and expire when the property sells, and the rules flip at the city line.
Colonial Pine Hills: This is unincorporated county, so there is no municipal short-term rental ordinance. County zoning and subdivision covenants are what govern, and the covenants out here are often stricter than the county.

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.
Custer: Custer School District 16-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Colonial Pine Hills: Rapid City Area School District 51-4Assignment 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.
Custer: Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.
Colonial Pine Hills: Everything is in Rapid City, roughly fifteen minutes down US 16.

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.
Custer: Monument Health Custer Hospital and clinic are in town.
Colonial Pine Hills: No clinic up here. Monument Health Rapid City Hospital and the Rapid City clinics are the answer.

Recreationdiffers

Buffalo Gap: Buffalo Gap National Grassland, hunting, rock collecting and OHV country, with the Cheyenne River nearby.
Custer: Custer State Park at the door, including Sylvan Lake, the Needles Highway, the wildlife loop and the September buffalo roundup.
Colonial Pine Hills: Sheridan Lake, Pactola, the Mickelson Trail and the whole central Hills network start where the subdivisions end.

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.
Custer: A county seat at a park entrance, with a replacement Monument Health hospital and acreage starting just past the city limits.
Colonial Pine Hills: Ponderosa pine subdivisions platted over decades, no two alike, on county rules six miles from the city.

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.
Custer: You are inside the Hills with real acreage, Custer State Park at the door, and a new hospital in a town of about 1,900.
Colonial Pine Hills: Hills elevation, trees and lot size with a Rapid City commute and Rapid City schools.

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.
Custer: Rapid City is 50 to 60 minutes and Ellsworth over an hour, grandfathered rental permits expire when a property sells, and outside the city limits there are no county building codes.
Colonial Pine Hills: Well or association water, septic on every parcel, private roads in places, and wildfire exposure that affects insurance.

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, Custer, Colonial Pine Hills

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