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, 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.

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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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What changes

Between Edgemont, Black Hawk, Whitewood

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 corridorWhitewoodNorthern Hills and I-90
County: EdgemontFall River CountyBlack HawkMeade CountyWhitewoodLawrence County
Jurisdiction: EdgemontIncorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.Black HawkUnincorporated Meade CountyWhitewoodNot recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
Corridor: EdgemontUS 18 and SD 471Black HawkI-90WhitewoodI-90 and US-85
To downtown Rapid City: EdgemontAbout 100 miles northeastBlack HawkAbout 12 to 15 minutesWhitewoodAbout 35 minutes
To Ellsworth AFB: EdgemontAbout 110 milesBlack HawkAbout 30 minutes, the same I-90 run as Summerset just northWhitewoodAbout 40 minutes

Side by side

Edgemont, Black Hawk, 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.

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 HillsEdgemont	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBlack Hawk	Northern Hills and I-90Whitewood
Where it sits
Regiondiffers	Central and Southern Hills	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor	Northern Hills and I-90
Countydiffers	Fall River County	Meade County	Lawrence 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	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
Corridordiffers	US 18 and SD 471	I-90	I-90 and US-85
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.	About 35 minutesDriving 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.	About 40 minutesDriving 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.	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	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.	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	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	Older and modest through town, so systems matter more than finishes.
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	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.
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.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers	City water and sewer inside the limits	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Waterdiffers	City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.	Black Hawk Water User District	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 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 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	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.	No short term rental provisions in the city code, and Rally season renting is common here under state rules.
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 School District 46-1, despite being in Lawrence CountyAssignment 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.	No full-service grocery store is in Whitewood. Most larger grocery trips go to Sturgis or Spearfish.
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	Monument Health Sturgis HospitalNo hospital in Whitewood. Sturgis is the nearer of the two, with Spearfish next.
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.	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	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.	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 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.	A quiet main street with Sturgis, Spearfish and Deadwood each about ten minutes out and the interstate right there.
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.	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	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.	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.

Central and Southern HillsEdgemont
Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBlack Hawk
Northern Hills and I-90Whitewood

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

Edgemont: Central and Southern Hills
Black Hawk: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Whitewood: Northern Hills and I-90

Countydiffers

Edgemont: Fall River County
Black Hawk: Meade County
Whitewood: Lawrence 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
Whitewood: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.

Corridordiffers

Edgemont: US 18 and SD 471
Black Hawk: I-90
Whitewood: I-90 and US-85

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.
Whitewood: About 35 minutesDriving 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.
Whitewood: About 40 minutesDriving 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.
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

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.
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

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
Whitewood: Older and modest through town, so systems matter more than finishes.

New constructiondiffers

Edgemont: None underway
Black Hawk: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Whitewood: 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.
Whitewood: 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
Whitewood: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.

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.
Whitewood: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.

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
Whitewood: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it

Waterdiffers

Edgemont: City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.
Black Hawk: Black Hawk Water User District
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

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
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

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.
Whitewood: No short term rental provisions in the city code, and Rally season renting is common here under state rules.

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.
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

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.
Whitewood: No full-service grocery store is in Whitewood. Most larger grocery trips go to Sturgis or Spearfish.

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
Whitewood: Monument Health Sturgis HospitalNo hospital in Whitewood. Sturgis is the nearer of the two, with Spearfish next.

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.
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

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.
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

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.
Whitewood: A quiet main street with Sturgis, Spearfish and Deadwood each about ten minutes out and the interstate right there.

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.
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

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.
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.

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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ComparingEdgemont, Black Hawk, Whitewood

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