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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4 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.

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

What changes

Between Custer, Summerset, Box Elder, Black Hawk

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

Region: CusterCentral and Southern HillsSummersetRapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBox ElderRapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBlack HawkRapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
County: CusterCuster CountySummersetMeade CountyBox ElderPennington CountyBlack HawkMeade County
Jurisdiction: CusterNot recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.SummersetCity of Summerset, incorporated July 2005Box ElderCity of Box ElderBlack HawkUnincorporated Meade County
Corridor: CusterUS-16SummersetI-90Box ElderI-90Black HawkI-90
To downtown Rapid City: CusterAbout 50 to 60 minutesSummerset15 min, 10.0 miBox Elder19 min, 10.9 miBlack HawkAbout 12 to 15 minutes
To Ellsworth AFB: CusterAbout an hour and ten minutesSummerset30 min, 19.2 miBox Elder9 min, 2.3 miBlack HawkAbout 30 minutes, the same I-90 run as Summerset just north

Side by side

Custer, Summerset, Box Elder, Black Hawk

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 HillsCuster	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorSummerset	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBox Elder	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBlack Hawk
Where it sits
Regiondiffers	Central and Southern Hills	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Countydiffers	Custer County	Meade County	Pennington County	Meade County
JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.	City of Summerset, incorporated July 2005	City of Box Elder	Unincorporated Meade County
Corridordiffers	US-16	I-90	I-90	I-90
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers	About 50 to 60 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	15 min, 10.0 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	19 min, 10.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 12 to 15 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers	About an hour and ten minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	30 min, 19.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 30 minutes, the same I-90 run as Summerset just northDriving time and distance, off peak.
Winter drivingdiffers	Winter roads are a genuine planning factor at this distance, and on acreage you need to know who maintains yours.	The commute is I-90, so winter driving here is interstate driving rather than a two lane canyon road.	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.	The road out front may be maintained publicly or by the neighborhood, so ask who plows before you buy.
Housing and lots
Typical pricediffers	Median sold $627,000Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 7 closed sales, small sample.	Builder inventory sets the level here, and the MLS publishes no Summerset median on its own.	$340k to $400kMedian sold $367,000. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 235 closed sales.	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.
Housing agediffers	Mixed ages. Older homes near the core, newer construction toward the edges.	Mostly 2000s to present	Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement	Mixed street to street, sometimes neighbor to neighbor
New constructiondiffers	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Check current permits with the city or county.	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	Active, with subdivisions still building	Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Acreagediffers	Acreage is common outside the city core, with wells and septic systems typical on many rural properties.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.	Larger lots and acre properties are part of the Black Hawk market, including properties with room for shops and outbuildings.
Typical lotdiffers	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.	Wide lots on new streets	Small city lots, about 0.15 to 0.18 acres in the newer plats	Bigger lots, with shop space and outbuildings normal
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.	Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.	Recorded covenants on some plats, none on othersRecorded covenants vary by subdivision and should be checked for the specific property.
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it	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.	City water and sewer inside the limits	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Waterdiffers	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.	Black Hawk Water User District, or Diamond D Water in Sun Valley	City of Box Elder municipal	Black Hawk Water User District
Sewerdiffers	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.	City of Summerset	City of Box Elder municipal	Black Hawk Sanitary District serves roughly 200 homes and businesses; properties outside the district are on private septic
Short term rentalsdiffers	Grandfathered permits are non transferable and expire when the property sells, and the rules flip at the city line.	The thinnest rules on this list, which means a rental plan has to be pinned down for the specific address.	A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up.	No municipal short term rental ordinance, because there is no municipality. State licensing still applies, and the subdivision covenant usually decides.
Schools
School districtdiffers	Custer School District 16-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the 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.	Douglas School District 51-1Assignment 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.
Daily errands
Groceriesdiffers	Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.	Not recorded in this guide. Check what is open near the address.	Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.	No full-service grocery store is in Black Hawk. Most larger grocery trips go into Rapid City.
Healthcarediffers	Monument Health Custer Hospital and clinic are in town.	Hospital-level care is in Rapid City, about 15 minutes south.	Monument Health Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City.	Monument Health Rapid City Hospital
Recreationdiffers	Custer State Park at the door, including Sylvan Lake, the Needles Highway, the wildlife loop and the September buffalo roundup.	Leisure Lane, Steamboat and Castlewood parks are the everyday recreation. Leisure Lane is the big one, with playgrounds, basketball, picnic shelters, open grass and the community garden.	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.	Piedmont and the Stagebarn area are just north, with the central hills close enough for a half day.
Mapped subdivisions
Outlines on filediffers	No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.	2 mapped outlines, 2 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.	16 mapped outlines, 3 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.	12 mapped outlines, 5 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.
The trade
Housing and patterndiffers	A county seat at a park entrance, with a replacement Monument Health hospital and acreage starting just past the city limits.	New streets and builder inventory, with Highlands at Norman Ranch adding over 100 first phase homesites across more than 300 acres.	A young city building its first downtown at Liberty Plaza on 110 acres, with roughly 800 residential units planned.	Unincorporated foothills pockets where lot size, home age and outbuildings change from one parcel to the next.
What you gaindiffers	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.	Newer houses on city sewer with Hills views at a price central Rapid City does not offer, and Highlands at Norman Ranch is still selling first phase homesites.	The Ellsworth main gate is in town, 9 minutes from most addresses, on city water and sewer, with the region's newest housing pipeline.	Bigger lots, room for a shop, and about 12 to 15 minutes to downtown Rapid City, without a city hall setting the local rules.
What you give updiffers	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.	You are fifteen minutes out from most of Rapid City's services and you drive I-90 to get to them in the winter. The city is also split between Meade 46-1 and Rapid City Area Schools 51-4, so the district follows the address.	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.	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.

Central and Southern HillsCuster
Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorSummerset
Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBox Elder
Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBlack Hawk

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

Custer: Central and Southern Hills
Summerset: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Box Elder: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Black Hawk: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor

Countydiffers

Custer: Custer County
Summerset: Meade County
Box Elder: Pennington County
Black Hawk: Meade County

Jurisdictiondiffers

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

Custer: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
Summerset: City of Summerset, incorporated July 2005
Box Elder: City of Box Elder
Black Hawk: Unincorporated Meade County

Corridordiffers

Custer: US-16
Summerset: I-90
Box Elder: I-90
Black Hawk: I-90

To downtown Rapid Citydiffers

Custer: About 50 to 60 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Summerset: 15 min, 10.0 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Box Elder: 19 min, 10.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Black Hawk: About 12 to 15 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.

To Ellsworth AFBdiffers

Custer: About an hour and ten minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Summerset: 30 min, 19.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Box Elder: 9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Black Hawk: About 30 minutes, the same I-90 run as Summerset just northDriving time and distance, off peak.

Winter drivingdiffers

Custer: Winter roads are a genuine planning factor at this distance, and on acreage you need to know who maintains yours.
Summerset: The commute is I-90, so winter driving here is interstate driving rather than a two lane canyon road.
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.
Black Hawk: The road out front may be maintained publicly or by the neighborhood, so ask who plows before you buy.

Housing and lots

Typical pricediffers

Custer: Median sold $627,000Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 7 closed sales, small sample.
Summerset: Builder inventory sets the level here, and the MLS publishes no Summerset median on its own.
Box Elder: $340k to $400kMedian sold $367,000. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 235 closed sales.
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.

Housing agediffers

Custer: Mixed ages. Older homes near the core, newer construction toward the edges.
Summerset: Mostly 2000s to present
Box Elder: Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement
Black Hawk: Mixed street to street, sometimes neighbor to neighbor

New constructiondiffers

Custer: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Check current permits with the city or county.
Summerset: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Box Elder: Active, with subdivisions still building
Black Hawk: Limited, mostly infill and small projects

Acreagediffers

Custer: Acreage is common outside the city core, with wells and septic systems typical on many rural properties.
Summerset: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.
Box Elder: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.
Black Hawk: Larger lots and acre properties are part of the Black Hawk market, including properties with room for shops and outbuildings.

Typical lotdiffers

Custer: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.
Summerset: Wide lots on new streets
Box Elder: Small city lots, about 0.15 to 0.18 acres in the newer plats
Black Hawk: Bigger lots, with shop space and outbuildings normal

Covenants and HOAdiffers

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

Custer: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
Summerset: Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others
Box Elder: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
Black Hawk: Recorded covenants on some plats, none on othersRecorded covenants vary by subdivision and should be checked for the specific property.

Utilities and rules

Utility patterndiffers

Custer: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Summerset: 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.
Box Elder: City water and sewer inside the limits
Black Hawk: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it

Waterdiffers

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.
Summerset: Black Hawk Water User District, or Diamond D Water in Sun Valley
Box Elder: City of Box Elder municipal
Black Hawk: Black Hawk Water User District

Sewerdiffers

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.
Summerset: City of Summerset
Box Elder: City of Box Elder municipal
Black Hawk: Black Hawk Sanitary District serves roughly 200 homes and businesses; properties outside the district are on private septic

Short term rentalsdiffers

Custer: Grandfathered permits are non transferable and expire when the property sells, and the rules flip at the city line.
Summerset: The thinnest rules on this list, which means a rental plan has to be pinned down for the specific address.
Box Elder: A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up.
Black Hawk: No municipal short term rental ordinance, because there is no municipality. State licensing still applies, and the subdivision covenant usually decides.

Schools

School districtdiffers

Custer: Custer School District 16-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Summerset: 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.
Box Elder: Douglas School District 51-1Assignment 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.

Daily errands

Groceriesdiffers

Custer: Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.
Summerset: Not recorded in this guide. Check what is open near the address.
Box Elder: Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.
Black Hawk: No full-service grocery store is in Black Hawk. Most larger grocery trips go into Rapid City.

Healthcarediffers

Custer: Monument Health Custer Hospital and clinic are in town.
Summerset: Hospital-level care is in Rapid City, about 15 minutes south.
Box Elder: Monument Health Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City.
Black Hawk: Monument Health Rapid City Hospital

Recreationdiffers

Custer: Custer State Park at the door, including Sylvan Lake, the Needles Highway, the wildlife loop and the September buffalo roundup.
Summerset: Leisure Lane, Steamboat and Castlewood parks are the everyday recreation. Leisure Lane is the big one, with playgrounds, basketball, picnic shelters, open grass and the community garden.
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.
Black Hawk: Piedmont and the Stagebarn area are just north, with the central hills close enough for a half day.

Mapped subdivisions

Outlines on filediffers

Custer: No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
Summerset: 2 mapped outlines, 2 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.
Box Elder: 16 mapped outlines, 3 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.
Black Hawk: 12 mapped outlines, 5 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.

The trade

Housing and patterndiffers

Custer: A county seat at a park entrance, with a replacement Monument Health hospital and acreage starting just past the city limits.
Summerset: New streets and builder inventory, with Highlands at Norman Ranch adding over 100 first phase homesites across more than 300 acres.
Box Elder: A young city building its first downtown at Liberty Plaza on 110 acres, with roughly 800 residential units planned.
Black Hawk: Unincorporated foothills pockets where lot size, home age and outbuildings change from one parcel to the next.

What you gaindiffers

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.
Summerset: Newer houses on city sewer with Hills views at a price central Rapid City does not offer, and Highlands at Norman Ranch is still selling first phase homesites.
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.
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.

What you give updiffers

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.
Summerset: You are fifteen minutes out from most of Rapid City's services and you drive I-90 to get to them in the winter. The city is also split between Meade 46-1 and Rapid City Area Schools 51-4, so the district follows the address.
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.
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.

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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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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