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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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

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What changes

Between Edgemont, Box Elder, New Underwood

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 HillsBox ElderRapid City and the Ellsworth corridorNew UnderwoodPrairie and Badlands
County: EdgemontFall River CountyBox ElderPennington CountyNew UnderwoodPennington County
Jurisdiction: EdgemontIncorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.Box ElderCity of Box ElderNew UnderwoodIncorporated city of New Underwood, with Pennington County outside the limits
Corridor: EdgemontUS 18 and SD 471Box ElderI-90New UnderwoodI-90 exit 78
To downtown Rapid City: EdgemontAbout 100 miles northeastBox Elder19 min, 10.9 miNew UnderwoodAbout 18 miles west on I-90
To Ellsworth AFB: EdgemontAbout 110 milesBox Elder9 min, 2.3 miNew UnderwoodAbout 11 miles, exit 78 to the main gate at exit 67A

Side by side

Edgemont, Box Elder, New Underwood

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 corridorBox Elder	Prairie and BadlandsNew Underwood
Where it sits
Regiondiffers	Central and Southern Hills	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor	Prairie and Badlands
Countydiffers	Fall River County	Pennington County	Pennington County
JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.	Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.	City of Box Elder	Incorporated city of New Underwood, with Pennington County outside the limits
Corridordiffers	US 18 and SD 471	I-90	I-90 exit 78
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers	About 100 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.	19 min, 10.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 18 miles west on I-90Distance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers	About 110 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.	9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 11 miles, exit 78 to the main gate at exit 67ADistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
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.	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.	I-90 is the commute and it is state maintained. Everything off the interstate is county and city plowing on its own schedule, and this is open prairie, so wind moves snow back onto the 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.	$340k to $400kMedian sold $367,000. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 235 closed sales.	About $320,000 average sold, 20 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $319,585. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 20 closed sales.
Housing agediffers	An 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count.	Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement	Older in-town stock with scattered newer building.
New constructiondiffers	None underway	Active, with subdivisions still building	Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Acreagediffers	Acreage parcels are common here	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.	Acreage parcels are common here
Typical lotdiffers	Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.	Small city lots, about 0.15 to 0.18 acres in the newer plats	Standard town lots on the grid, with ranch and acreage ground starting where the limits end.
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.	Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers	City water and sewer inside the limits	City water and sewer inside the limits	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Waterdiffers	City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.	City of Box Elder municipal	City of New Underwood water inside the limits, drawn from two Madison Aquifer wells. Outside the limits, parcels are on small water associations or private wells.
Sewerdiffers	City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.	City of Box Elder municipal	City sewer inside the limits. Rural parcels are on private septic permitted by Pennington County.
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.	A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up.	New Underwood is a highway town rather than a tourism town, and no short-term rental ordinance surfaced in the public record. Confirm with the city before you count on rental income.
Schools
School districtdiffers	Edgemont School District 23-1Assignment 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.	New Underwood School District 51-3Assignment 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.	Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.	BJ's Country Store at the exit 78 interchange for fuel and convenience. Full grocery shopping is Rapid City, about 18 miles west.
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 Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City.	No clinic in town. The Monument Health Rapid Valley Clinic on Elderberry Boulevard has walk-in urgent care seven days a week, and the hospital is in Rapid City.
Recreationdiffers	The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction.	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.	The municipal pool, with a donor-funded free swim program, and open prairie in every direction.
Mapped subdivisions
Outlines on filediffers	No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.	16 mapped outlines, 3 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.	No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
The trade
Housing and patterndiffers	A working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains.	A young city building its first downtown at Liberty Plaza on 110 acres, with roughly 800 residential units planned.	A prairie town with its own K through 12 campus and its own interstate exit, 18 miles from the city.
What you gaindiffers	More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities.	The Ellsworth main gate is in town, 9 minutes from most addresses, on city water and sewer, with the region's newest housing pipeline.	The only town this close to Ellsworth that still educates its own kids from kindergarten through graduation.
What you give updiffers	A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy.	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.	You give up the grocery store, the clinic and the hardware store, and you inherit a small municipal water system with a publicly acknowledged supply question.

Central and Southern HillsEdgemont
Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBox Elder
Prairie and BadlandsNew Underwood

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

Edgemont: Central and Southern Hills
Box Elder: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
New Underwood: Prairie and Badlands

Countydiffers

Edgemont: Fall River County
Box Elder: Pennington County
New Underwood: Pennington 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.
Box Elder: City of Box Elder
New Underwood: Incorporated city of New Underwood, with Pennington County outside the limits

Corridordiffers

Edgemont: US 18 and SD 471
Box Elder: I-90
New Underwood: I-90 exit 78

To downtown Rapid Citydiffers

Edgemont: About 100 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
Box Elder: 19 min, 10.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
New Underwood: About 18 miles west on I-90Distance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.

To Ellsworth AFBdiffers

Edgemont: About 110 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
Box Elder: 9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
New Underwood: About 11 miles, exit 78 to the main gate at exit 67ADistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.

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.
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.
New Underwood: I-90 is the commute and it is state maintained. Everything off the interstate is county and city plowing on its own schedule, and this is open prairie, so wind moves snow back onto the 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.
Box Elder: $340k to $400kMedian sold $367,000. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 235 closed sales.
New Underwood: About $320,000 average sold, 20 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $319,585. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 20 closed sales.

Housing agediffers

Edgemont: An 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count.
Box Elder: Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement
New Underwood: Older in-town stock with scattered newer building.

New constructiondiffers

Edgemont: None underway
Box Elder: Active, with subdivisions still building
New Underwood: Limited, mostly infill and small projects

Acreagediffers

Edgemont: Acreage parcels are common here
Box Elder: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.
New Underwood: Acreage parcels are common here

Typical lotdiffers

Edgemont: Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.
Box Elder: Small city lots, about 0.15 to 0.18 acres in the newer plats
New Underwood: Standard town lots on the grid, with ranch and acreage ground starting where the limits end.

Covenants and HOAdiffers

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

Edgemont: Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Box Elder: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
New Underwood: Few plats here carry recorded covenants

Utilities and rules

Utility patterndiffers

Edgemont: City water and sewer inside the limits
Box Elder: City water and sewer inside the limits
New Underwood: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it

Waterdiffers

Edgemont: City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.
Box Elder: City of Box Elder municipal
New Underwood: City of New Underwood water inside the limits, drawn from two Madison Aquifer wells. Outside the limits, parcels are on small water associations or private wells.

Sewerdiffers

Edgemont: City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.
Box Elder: City of Box Elder municipal
New Underwood: City sewer inside the limits. Rural parcels are on private septic permitted by Pennington County.

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.
Box Elder: A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up.
New Underwood: New Underwood is a highway town rather than a tourism town, and no short-term rental ordinance surfaced in the public record. Confirm with the city before you count on rental income.

Schools

School districtdiffers

Edgemont: Edgemont School District 23-1Assignment 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.
New Underwood: New Underwood School District 51-3Assignment 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.
Box Elder: Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.
New Underwood: BJ's Country Store at the exit 78 interchange for fuel and convenience. Full grocery shopping is Rapid City, about 18 miles west.

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.
Box Elder: Monument Health Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City.
New Underwood: No clinic in town. The Monument Health Rapid Valley Clinic on Elderberry Boulevard has walk-in urgent care seven days a week, and the hospital is in Rapid City.

Recreationdiffers

Edgemont: The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction.
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.
New Underwood: The municipal pool, with a donor-funded free swim program, and open prairie in every direction.

Mapped subdivisions

Outlines on filediffers

Edgemont: No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
Box Elder: 16 mapped outlines, 3 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.
New Underwood: No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.

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.
Box Elder: A young city building its first downtown at Liberty Plaza on 110 acres, with roughly 800 residential units planned.
New Underwood: A prairie town with its own K through 12 campus and its own interstate exit, 18 miles from the city.

What you gaindiffers

Edgemont: More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities.
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.
New Underwood: The only town this close to Ellsworth that still educates its own kids from kindergarten through graduation.

What you give updiffers

Edgemont: A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy.
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.
New Underwood: You give up the grocery store, the clinic and the hardware store, and you inherit a small municipal water system with a publicly acknowledged supply question.

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, Box Elder, New Underwood

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