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.
1 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
- $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.
Between Edgemont, Black Hawk, Summerset
The rows below are the ones where these do not read the same. Ordered as the table runs, not by importance.
- Region
- EdgemontCentral and Southern HillsBlack HawkRapid City and the Ellsworth corridorSummersetRapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
- County
- EdgemontFall River CountyBlack HawkMeade CountySummersetMeade County
- Jurisdiction
- EdgemontIncorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.Black HawkUnincorporated Meade CountySummersetCity of Summerset, incorporated July 2005
- Corridor
- EdgemontUS 18 and SD 471Black HawkI-90SummersetI-90
- To downtown Rapid City
- EdgemontAbout 100 miles northeastBlack HawkAbout 12 to 15 minutesSummerset15 min, 10.0 mi
- To Ellsworth AFB
- EdgemontAbout 110 milesBlack HawkAbout 30 minutes, the same I-90 run as Summerset just northSummerset30 min, 19.2 mi
Edgemont, Black Hawk, Summerset
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 | Central and Southern HillsEdgemont | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | |||
| Regiondiffers | Central and Southern Hills | Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor | Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor |
| Countydiffers | Fall River County | Meade County | Meade County |
| JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work. | Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits. | Unincorporated Meade County | City of Summerset, incorporated July 2005 |
| Corridordiffers | US 18 and SD 471 | I-90 | I-90 |
| To downtown Rapid Citydiffers | About 100 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel. | About 12 to 15 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak. | 15 min, 10.0 miDriving time and distance, off peak. |
| To Ellsworth AFBdiffers | About 110 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. | 30 min, 19.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak. |
| Winter drivingdiffers | 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. | The road out front may be maintained publicly or by the neighborhood, so ask who plows before you buy. | The commute is I-90, so winter driving here is interstate driving rather than a two lane canyon road. |
| Housing and lots | |||
| Typical pricediffers | 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. | 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. | Builder inventory sets the level here, and the MLS publishes no Summerset median on its own. |
| Housing agediffers | An 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count. | Mixed street to street, sometimes neighbor to neighbor | Mostly 2000s to present |
| New constructiondiffers | None underway | Limited, mostly infill and small projects | Limited, mostly infill and small projects |
| 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. | Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size. |
| Typical lotdiffers | Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them. | Bigger lots, with shop space and outbuildings normal | Wide lots on new streets |
| 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. | Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others |
| Utilities and rules | |||
| Utility patterndiffers | City water and sewer inside the limits | 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. |
| Waterdiffers | City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells. | Black Hawk Water User District | Black Hawk Water User District, or Diamond D Water in Sun Valley |
| Sewerdiffers | City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels. | Black Hawk Sanitary District serves roughly 200 homes and businesses; properties outside the district are on private septic | City of Summerset |
| Short term rentalsdiffers | 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. | No municipal short term rental ordinance, because there is no municipality. State licensing still applies, and the subdivision covenant usually decides. | The thinnest rules on this list, which means a rental plan has to be pinned down for the specific address. |
| Schools | |||
| School districtdiffers | Edgemont School District 23-1Assignment 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. | 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. |
| Daily errands | |||
| Groceriesdiffers | Small-town grocery and convenience in Edgemont, with Hot Springs about 35 miles east for more. | No full-service grocery store is in Black Hawk. Most larger grocery trips go into Rapid City. | Not recorded in this guide. Check what is open near the address. |
| Healthcarediffers | No hospital in town. Fall River Health Services in Hot Springs is a 25 bed critical access hospital with a 24 hour emergency department. | Monument Health Rapid City Hospital | Hospital-level care is in Rapid City, about 15 minutes south. |
| Recreationdiffers | The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction. | Piedmont and the Stagebarn area are just north, with the central hills close enough for a half day. | 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. |
| 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. | 2 mapped outlines, 2 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls. |
| The trade | |||
| Housing and patterndiffers | A working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains. | Unincorporated foothills pockets where lot size, home age and outbuildings change from one parcel to the next. | New streets and builder inventory, with Highlands at Norman Ranch adding over 100 first phase homesites across more than 300 acres. |
| What you gaindiffers | More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities. | Bigger lots, room for a shop, and about 12 to 15 minutes to downtown Rapid City, without a city hall setting the local rules. | 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. |
| What you give updiffers | A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy. | 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. | 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. |
- Central and Southern HillsEdgemont
Where it sits
Regiondiffers
- Edgemont
- Central and Southern Hills
- Black Hawk
- Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
- Summerset
- Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Countydiffers
- Edgemont
- Fall River County
- Black Hawk
- Meade County
- Summerset
- Meade County
Jurisdictiondiffers
City versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.- Edgemont
- Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.
- Black Hawk
- Unincorporated Meade County
- Summerset
- City of Summerset, incorporated July 2005
Corridordiffers
- Edgemont
- US 18 and SD 471
- Black Hawk
- I-90
- Summerset
- I-90
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers
- Edgemont
- About 100 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
- Black Hawk
- About 12 to 15 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
- Summerset
- 15 min, 10.0 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers
- Edgemont
- About 110 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.
- Summerset
- 30 min, 19.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Winter drivingdiffers
- 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.
- Black Hawk
- The road out front may be maintained publicly or by the neighborhood, so ask who plows before you buy.
- Summerset
- The commute is I-90, so winter driving here is interstate driving rather than a two lane canyon road.
Housing and lots
Typical pricediffers
- 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.
- 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.
- Summerset
- Builder inventory sets the level here, and the MLS publishes no Summerset median on its own.
Housing agediffers
- Edgemont
- An 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count.
- Black Hawk
- Mixed street to street, sometimes neighbor to neighbor
- Summerset
- Mostly 2000s to present
New constructiondiffers
- Edgemont
- None underway
- Black Hawk
- Limited, mostly infill and small projects
- Summerset
- Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Acreagediffers
- Edgemont
- 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.
- Summerset
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.
Typical lotdiffers
- Edgemont
- Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.
- Black Hawk
- Bigger lots, with shop space and outbuildings normal
- Summerset
- Wide lots on new streets
Covenants and HOAdiffers
Covenants are recorded per plat. The title commitment lists what binds the parcel.- Edgemont
- 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.
- Summerset
- Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers
- Edgemont
- City water and sewer inside the limits
- Black Hawk
- 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.
Waterdiffers
- Edgemont
- City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.
- Black Hawk
- Black Hawk Water User District
- Summerset
- Black Hawk Water User District, or Diamond D Water in Sun Valley
Sewerdiffers
- Edgemont
- City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.
- Black Hawk
- Black Hawk Sanitary District serves roughly 200 homes and businesses; properties outside the district are on private septic
- Summerset
- City of Summerset
Short term rentalsdiffers
- 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.
- Black Hawk
- No municipal short term rental ordinance, because there is no municipality. State licensing still applies, and the subdivision covenant usually decides.
- Summerset
- The thinnest rules on this list, which means a rental plan has to be pinned down for the specific address.
Schools
School districtdiffers
- Edgemont
- Edgemont School District 23-1Assignment 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.
- 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.
Daily errands
Groceriesdiffers
- Edgemont
- Small-town grocery and convenience in Edgemont, with Hot Springs about 35 miles east for more.
- Black Hawk
- No full-service grocery store is in Black Hawk. Most larger grocery trips go into Rapid City.
- Summerset
- Not recorded in this guide. Check what is open near the address.
Healthcarediffers
- 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.
- Black Hawk
- Monument Health Rapid City Hospital
- Summerset
- Hospital-level care is in Rapid City, about 15 minutes south.
Recreationdiffers
- Edgemont
- The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction.
- Black Hawk
- Piedmont and the Stagebarn area are just north, with the central hills close enough for a half day.
- 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.
Mapped subdivisions
Outlines on filediffers
- Edgemont
- 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.
- Summerset
- 2 mapped outlines, 2 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.
The trade
Housing and patterndiffers
- Edgemont
- A working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains.
- Black Hawk
- Unincorporated foothills pockets where lot size, home age and outbuildings change from one parcel to the next.
- Summerset
- New streets and builder inventory, with Highlands at Norman Ranch adding over 100 first phase homesites across more than 300 acres.
What you gaindiffers
- Edgemont
- More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities.
- 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.
- 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.
What you give updiffers
- Edgemont
- A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy.
- 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.
- 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.
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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