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.
4 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
- $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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Between Lead and Deadwood, Green Valley
The rows below are the ones where these do not read the same. Ordered as the table runs, not by importance.
- Region
- Lead and DeadwoodNorthern Hills and I-90Green ValleyRapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
- County
- Lead and DeadwoodLawrence CountyGreen ValleyPennington County
- Jurisdiction
- Lead and DeadwoodNot recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.Green ValleyUnincorporated. No city government. Pennington County zones the lots and the County Sheriff patrols them.
- Corridor
- Lead and DeadwoodUS-385 and US-14AGreen ValleySD 44
- To downtown Rapid City
- Lead and DeadwoodAbout 50 minutesGreen ValleyAbout 6 miles northwest
- To Ellsworth AFB
- Lead and DeadwoodAbout 55 minutesGreen ValleyAbout 15 minutes north
Lead and Deadwood, Green Valley
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 | Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorGreen Valley | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | ||
| Regiondiffers | Northern Hills and I-90 | Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor |
| Countydiffers | Lawrence County | Pennington 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. | Unincorporated. No city government. Pennington County zones the lots and the County Sheriff patrols them. |
| Corridordiffers | US-385 and US-14A | SD 44 |
| To downtown Rapid Citydiffers | About 50 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak. | About 6 miles northwestDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel. |
| To Ellsworth AFBdiffers | About 55 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak. | About 15 minutes northDriving time and distance, off peak. |
| Winter drivingdiffers | Lead averages 183.9 inches of snow a year, so plowing, driveway grade and which way it faces are part of the budget. | Highway 44 is a state priority. Everything off it is county, and open prairie means blowing snow reclaims a cleared road quickly. |
| Housing and lots | ||
| Typical pricediffers | $320k to $500kMedian sold $385,000. Mount Rushmore Area MLS, all residential, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 117 closed sales. | No published median exists for the community. Closed sales on the specific street are the only figure worth quoting here. |
| Housing agediffers | Historic stock, plus Powder House Pass as the newest product up here | Mostly late twentieth century through current. |
| New construction | Limited, mostly infill and small projects | Limited, mostly infill and small projects |
| Acreagediffers | Mountain acreage exists outside the denser town centers, with access, well, septic and winter-maintenance considerations varying by property. | Some acreage, mostly platted town lots |
| Typical lotdiffers | Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions. | Generous by city standards, with larger parcels toward Radar Hill and Reservoir Road. |
| Covenants and HOAdiffersCovenants are recorded per plat. The title commitment lists what binds the parcel. | Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others | Few plats here carry recorded covenants |
| Utilities and rules | ||
| Utility patterndiffers | Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify water and sewer service for the address. | Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it |
| Waterdiffers | Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the provider for the address. | 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. |
| Sewerdiffers | Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the service for the address. | District sewer where the district reaches, private septic where it does not. Confirm per parcel. |
| Short term rentalsdiffers | Three jurisdictions within a few miles give three different answers. This is where guessing gets expensive. | Unincorporated county, so no municipal short-term rental ordinance applies. County zoning and any subdivision covenants govern, and state licensing applies once you rent. |
| Schools | ||
| School districtdiffers | Lead-Deadwood School District 40-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the 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. |
| Daily errands | ||
| Groceriesdiffers | Not recorded in this guide. Check what is open near the address. | The Highway 44 corridor and east Rapid City, a few minutes northwest. |
| Healthcarediffers | Monument Health Lead-Deadwood Hospital and clinic provide hospital-level and outpatient care in the area. | The Monument Health Rapid Valley Clinic on Elderberry Boulevard for walk-in care, with the hospital in Rapid City. |
| Recreationdiffers | Terry Peak, a 7,100 foot summit with 1,100 feet of vertical and 30 trails, plus Deadwood gaming and the historic district. | Open prairie, the county land east of town, and the whole Black Hills half an hour the other direction. |
| Mapped subdivisions | ||
| Outlines on filediffers | 55 mapped outlines, 0 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 | High elevation historic streets, with Terry Peak, the Mickelson Trail and the Powder House Pass covenants and Community Improvement District just south of Lead. | Flat prairie subdivisions east of the city, growing steadily, on county rules. |
| What you gaindiffers | Elevation, Terry Peak measured in minutes, the Mickelson Trail and historic streets you cannot build a copy of. | More ground for the money six miles from Rapid City, with Ellsworth fifteen minutes north. |
| What you give updiffers | Lead averages 183.9 inches of snow a year, so snow removal and vehicle choice are line items, and three jurisdictions inside a few miles answer rental questions differently. | A school district line that runs through the community, and a water arrangement that changes street to street. |
- Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorGreen Valley
Where it sits
Regiondiffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- Northern Hills and I-90
- Green Valley
- Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Countydiffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- Lawrence County
- Green Valley
- Pennington County
Jurisdictiondiffers
City versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.- Lead and Deadwood
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
- Green Valley
- Unincorporated. No city government. Pennington County zones the lots and the County Sheriff patrols them.
Corridordiffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- US-385 and US-14A
- Green Valley
- SD 44
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- About 50 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
- Green Valley
- About 6 miles northwestDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- About 55 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
- Green Valley
- About 15 minutes northDriving time and distance, off peak.
Winter drivingdiffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- Lead averages 183.9 inches of snow a year, so plowing, driveway grade and which way it faces are part of the budget.
- Green Valley
- Highway 44 is a state priority. Everything off it is county, and open prairie means blowing snow reclaims a cleared road quickly.
Housing and lots
Typical pricediffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- $320k to $500kMedian sold $385,000. Mount Rushmore Area MLS, all residential, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 117 closed sales.
- Green Valley
- No published median exists for the community. Closed sales on the specific street are the only figure worth quoting here.
Housing agediffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- Historic stock, plus Powder House Pass as the newest product up here
- Green Valley
- Mostly late twentieth century through current.
New construction
- Lead and Deadwood
- Limited, mostly infill and small projects
- Green Valley
- Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Acreagediffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- Mountain acreage exists outside the denser town centers, with access, well, septic and winter-maintenance considerations varying by property.
- Green Valley
- Some acreage, mostly platted town lots
Typical lotdiffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.
- Green Valley
- Generous by city standards, with larger parcels toward Radar Hill and Reservoir Road.
Covenants and HOAdiffers
Covenants are recorded per plat. The title commitment lists what binds the parcel.- Lead and Deadwood
- Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others
- Green Valley
- Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify water and sewer service for the address.
- Green Valley
- Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Waterdiffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the provider for the address.
- 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.
Sewerdiffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the service for the address.
- Green Valley
- District sewer where the district reaches, private septic where it does not. Confirm per parcel.
Short term rentalsdiffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- Three jurisdictions within a few miles give three different answers. This is where guessing gets expensive.
- 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.
Schools
School districtdiffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- Lead-Deadwood School District 40-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
- 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.
Daily errands
Groceriesdiffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- Not recorded in this guide. Check what is open near the address.
- Green Valley
- The Highway 44 corridor and east Rapid City, a few minutes northwest.
Healthcarediffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- Monument Health Lead-Deadwood Hospital and clinic provide hospital-level and outpatient care in the area.
- Green Valley
- The Monument Health Rapid Valley Clinic on Elderberry Boulevard for walk-in care, with the hospital in Rapid City.
Recreationdiffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- Terry Peak, a 7,100 foot summit with 1,100 feet of vertical and 30 trails, plus Deadwood gaming and the historic district.
- Green Valley
- Open prairie, the county land east of town, and the whole Black Hills half an hour the other direction.
Mapped subdivisions
Outlines on filediffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- 55 mapped outlines, 0 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.
- Green Valley
- No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
The trade
Housing and patterndiffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- High elevation historic streets, with Terry Peak, the Mickelson Trail and the Powder House Pass covenants and Community Improvement District just south of Lead.
- Green Valley
- Flat prairie subdivisions east of the city, growing steadily, on county rules.
What you gaindiffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- Elevation, Terry Peak measured in minutes, the Mickelson Trail and historic streets you cannot build a copy of.
- Green Valley
- More ground for the money six miles from Rapid City, with Ellsworth fifteen minutes north.
What you give updiffers
- Lead and Deadwood
- Lead averages 183.9 inches of snow a year, so snow removal and vehicle choice are line items, and three jurisdictions inside a few miles answer rental questions differently.
- Green Valley
- A school district line that runs through the community, and a water arrangement that changes street to street.
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
Want to talk through the tradeoffs?
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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Send the address and we can talk it through. The details that change from one property to the next are jurisdiction, water and sewer, the school the district assigns, covenants, road maintenance and the rest of what never shows up on a listing.