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

Price filters only consider communities with a published trailing twelve month median, so towns without one do not appear in a price filter.

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The five facts that decide a shortlist

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Selected, 3 of 4

Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor

Everything within about twenty five minutes of downtown Rapid City or the Ellsworth main gate, where most of the newer inventory, the shortest commutes and the jurisdiction questions about city versus county service are.

Rapid City
Typical price
$300k to $450kMedian sold $349,950. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 706 closed sales.
To Ellsworth AFB
24 min, 13.8 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
5 min, 1.5 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Utility pattern
City water and sewer inside the limits
School district
Rapid City Area Schools 51-4Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Compare Guide

What changes

Between Green Valley, Box Elder, Keystone

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

Region: Green ValleyRapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBox ElderRapid City and the Ellsworth corridorKeystoneCentral and Southern Hills
Jurisdiction: Green ValleyUnincorporated. No city government. Pennington County zones the lots and the County Sheriff patrols them.Box ElderCity of Box ElderKeystoneIncorporated town of Keystone, with unincorporated Pennington County on the surrounding hillsides.
Corridor: Green ValleySD 44Box ElderI-90KeystoneUS 16A
To downtown Rapid City: Green ValleyAbout 6 miles northwestBox Elder19 min, 10.9 miKeystoneAbout 25 minutes northeast
To Ellsworth AFB: Green ValleyAbout 15 minutes northBox Elder9 min, 2.3 miKeystoneAbout 40 minutes
Winter driving: Green ValleyHighway 44 is a state priority. Everything off it is county, and open prairie means blowing snow reclaims a cleared road quickly.Box ElderI-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.KeystoneBlack Hills elevation on canyon roads, and a town that empties out for the season. Iron Mountain Road and the scenic routes are not winter commuting roads.

Side by side

Green Valley, Box Elder, Keystone

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	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorGreen Valley	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBox Elder	Central and Southern HillsKeystone
Where it sits
Regiondiffers	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor	Central and Southern Hills
County	Pennington County	Pennington County	Pennington County
JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.	Unincorporated. No city government. Pennington County zones the lots and the County Sheriff patrols them.	City of Box Elder	Incorporated town of Keystone, with unincorporated Pennington County on the surrounding hillsides.
Corridordiffers	SD 44	I-90	US 16A
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers	About 6 miles northwestDistance 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 25 minutes northeastDriving time and distance, off peak.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers	About 15 minutes northDriving time and distance, off peak.	9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 40 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Winter drivingdiffers	Highway 44 is a state priority. Everything off it is county, and open prairie means blowing snow reclaims a cleared road quickly.	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 Hills elevation on canyon roads, and a town that empties out for the season. Iron Mountain Road and the scenic routes are not winter commuting roads.
Housing and lots
Typical pricediffers	No published median exists for the community. Closed sales on the specific street are the only figure worth quoting here.	$340k to $400kMedian sold $367,000. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 235 closed sales.	About $618,000 average sold, but only 9 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $618,449. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 9 closed sales, small sample.
Housing agediffers	Mostly late twentieth century through current.	Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement	An 1883 mining town, so genuinely old stock alongside newer builds and cabins.
New constructiondiffers	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	Active, with subdivisions still building	Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Acreagediffers	Some acreage, mostly platted town lots	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.	Some acreage, mostly platted town lots
Typical lotdiffers	Generous by city standards, with larger parcels toward Radar Hill and Reservoir Road.	Small city lots, about 0.15 to 0.18 acres in the newer plats	Small and steep in town, larger on the surrounding hillsides outside the limits.
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	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it	City water and sewer inside the limits	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Waterdiffers	Not a single system. The Rapid Valley Sanitary District's service area extends past the Rapid Valley boundary and is the likely supplier for much of Green Valley, and there is also a separate Green Valley Sanitary District administered alongside it. Outlying parcels toward Radar Hill and Reservoir Road are on private wells. Confirm per parcel.	City of Box Elder municipal	Town of Keystone municipal water inside the limits, drawn from town wells, with no violations on its current record. Parcels outside the town limits are on private wells.
Sewerdiffers	District sewer where the district reaches, private septic where it does not. Confirm per parcel.	City of Box Elder municipal	Confirm with the town before you rely on it. The town operates public works, but I have not been able to verify from the public record whether it runs a collection system or which parcels it reaches. Outside the limits, expect private septic.
Short term rentalsdiffers	Unincorporated county, so no municipal short-term rental ordinance applies. County zoning and any subdivision covenants govern, and state licensing applies once you rent.	A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up.	A 2 percent municipal lodging tax applies to transient stays. Whether a separate short term rental ordinance exists is not clear from the public record, so confirm with the town in writing.
Schools
School districtdiffers	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.	Douglas School District 51-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.	Hill City School District 51-2Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Daily errands
Groceriesdiffers	The Highway 44 corridor and east Rapid City, a few minutes northwest.	Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.	Nothing full service in town. Hill City is the closest small grocery and Rapid City is the real shopping, about 25 minutes northeast.
Healthcarediffers	The Monument Health Rapid Valley Clinic on Elderberry Boulevard for walk-in care, with the hospital in Rapid City.	Monument Health Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City.	No clinic in town. Monument Health Custer Hospital has a 24 hour emergency department, and Rapid City has the larger hospital.
Recreationdiffers	Open prairie, the county land east of town, and the whole Black Hills half an hour the other 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.	Mount Rushmore is past the town boundary, the 1880 Train runs from the Winter Street depot, and Custer State Park and the Norbeck Scenic Byway are close.
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	Flat prairie subdivisions east of the city, growing steadily, on county rules.	A young city building its first downtown at Liberty Plaza on 110 acres, with roughly 800 residential units planned.	An 1883 mining camp turned tourism town at the gateway to Mount Rushmore, 240 residents and millions of visitors.
What you gaindiffers	More ground for the money six miles from Rapid City, with Ellsworth fifteen minutes north.	The Ellsworth main gate is in town, 9 minutes from most addresses, on city water and sewer, with the region's newest housing pipeline.	Nightly rental demand runs about as high as anywhere in the Black Hills, if the rules and the covenants check out for the specific property.
What you give updiffers	A school district line that runs through the community, and a water arrangement that changes street to street.	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.	A seasonal town with no school, no grocery and no clinic, and a housing stock where half the doors are dark in winter.

Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorGreen Valley
Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBox Elder
Central and Southern HillsKeystone

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

Green Valley: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Box Elder: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Keystone: Central and Southern Hills

County

Green Valley: Pennington County
Box Elder: Pennington County
Keystone: Pennington County

Jurisdictiondiffers

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

Green Valley: Unincorporated. No city government. Pennington County zones the lots and the County Sheriff patrols them.
Box Elder: City of Box Elder
Keystone: Incorporated town of Keystone, with unincorporated Pennington County on the surrounding hillsides.

Corridordiffers

Green Valley: SD 44
Box Elder: I-90
Keystone: US 16A

To downtown Rapid Citydiffers

Green Valley: About 6 miles northwestDistance 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.
Keystone: About 25 minutes northeastDriving time and distance, off peak.

To Ellsworth AFBdiffers

Green Valley: About 15 minutes northDriving time and distance, off peak.
Box Elder: 9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Keystone: About 40 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.

Winter drivingdiffers

Green Valley: Highway 44 is a state priority. Everything off it is county, and open prairie means blowing snow reclaims a cleared road quickly.
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.
Keystone: Black Hills elevation on canyon roads, and a town that empties out for the season. Iron Mountain Road and the scenic routes are not winter commuting roads.

Housing and lots

Typical pricediffers

Green Valley: No published median exists for the community. Closed sales on the specific street are the only figure worth quoting here.
Box Elder: $340k to $400kMedian sold $367,000. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 235 closed sales.
Keystone: About $618,000 average sold, but only 9 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $618,449. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 9 closed sales, small sample.

Housing agediffers

Green Valley: Mostly late twentieth century through current.
Box Elder: Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement
Keystone: An 1883 mining town, so genuinely old stock alongside newer builds and cabins.

New constructiondiffers

Green Valley: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Box Elder: Active, with subdivisions still building
Keystone: Limited, mostly infill and small projects

Acreagediffers

Green Valley: Some acreage, mostly platted town lots
Box Elder: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.
Keystone: Some acreage, mostly platted town lots

Typical lotdiffers

Green Valley: Generous by city standards, with larger parcels toward Radar Hill and Reservoir Road.
Box Elder: Small city lots, about 0.15 to 0.18 acres in the newer plats
Keystone: Small and steep in town, larger on the surrounding hillsides outside the limits.

Covenants and HOAdiffers

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

Green Valley: Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Box Elder: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
Keystone: Few plats here carry recorded covenants

Utilities and rules

Utility patterndiffers

Green Valley: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Box Elder: City water and sewer inside the limits
Keystone: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it

Waterdiffers

Green Valley: Not a single system. The Rapid Valley Sanitary District's service area extends past the Rapid Valley boundary and is the likely supplier for much of Green Valley, and there is also a separate Green Valley Sanitary District administered alongside it. Outlying parcels toward Radar Hill and Reservoir Road are on private wells. Confirm per parcel.
Box Elder: City of Box Elder municipal
Keystone: Town of Keystone municipal water inside the limits, drawn from town wells, with no violations on its current record. Parcels outside the town limits are on private wells.

Sewerdiffers

Green Valley: District sewer where the district reaches, private septic where it does not. Confirm per parcel.
Box Elder: City of Box Elder municipal
Keystone: Confirm with the town before you rely on it. The town operates public works, but I have not been able to verify from the public record whether it runs a collection system or which parcels it reaches. Outside the limits, expect private septic.

Short term rentalsdiffers

Green Valley: Unincorporated county, so no municipal short-term rental ordinance applies. County zoning and any subdivision covenants govern, and state licensing applies once you rent.
Box Elder: A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up.
Keystone: A 2 percent municipal lodging tax applies to transient stays. Whether a separate short term rental ordinance exists is not clear from the public record, so confirm with the town in writing.

Schools

School districtdiffers

Green Valley: 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.
Box Elder: Douglas School District 51-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Keystone: Hill City School District 51-2Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.

Daily errands

Groceriesdiffers

Green Valley: The Highway 44 corridor and east Rapid City, a few minutes northwest.
Box Elder: Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.
Keystone: Nothing full service in town. Hill City is the closest small grocery and Rapid City is the real shopping, about 25 minutes northeast.

Healthcarediffers

Green Valley: The Monument Health Rapid Valley Clinic on Elderberry Boulevard for walk-in care, with the hospital in Rapid City.
Box Elder: Monument Health Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City.
Keystone: No clinic in town. Monument Health Custer Hospital has a 24 hour emergency department, and Rapid City has the larger hospital.

Recreationdiffers

Green Valley: Open prairie, the county land east of town, and the whole Black Hills half an hour the other 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.
Keystone: Mount Rushmore is past the town boundary, the 1880 Train runs from the Winter Street depot, and Custer State Park and the Norbeck Scenic Byway are close.

Mapped subdivisions

Outlines on filediffers

Green Valley: 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.
Keystone: No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.

The trade

Housing and patterndiffers

Green Valley: Flat prairie subdivisions east of the city, growing steadily, on county rules.
Box Elder: A young city building its first downtown at Liberty Plaza on 110 acres, with roughly 800 residential units planned.
Keystone: An 1883 mining camp turned tourism town at the gateway to Mount Rushmore, 240 residents and millions of visitors.

What you gaindiffers

Green Valley: More ground for the money six miles from Rapid City, with Ellsworth fifteen minutes north.
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.
Keystone: Nightly rental demand runs about as high as anywhere in the Black Hills, if the rules and the covenants check out for the specific property.

What you give updiffers

Green Valley: A school district line that runs through the community, and a water arrangement that changes street to street.
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.
Keystone: A seasonal town with no school, no grocery and no clinic, and a housing stock where half the doors are dark in winter.

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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ComparingGreen Valley, Box Elder, Keystone

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