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.

Narrow it

5 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.

Browse

The five facts that decide a shortlist

Find a community

Selected, 4 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 $369,900. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of October 2026. 184 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.
4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide
Rapid City
Typical price
$300k to $450kMedian sold $349,900. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of October 2026. 790 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.
4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide

Northern Hills and I-90

The Sturgis to Belle Fourche side of the Hills, with its own hospitals, schools and employers, so a job in Spearfish or Sturgis does not have to mean a Rapid City commute.

Spearfish
Typical price
$400k to $600kMedian sold $535,000. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of October 2026. 161 closed sales.
To Ellsworth AFB
68 min, 57.0 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
53 min, 47.8 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Utility pattern
City water and sewer are typical inside city-served areas. Acreage outside the city can use wells, septic systems or other service arrangements, so utilities should be confirmed by address.
School district
Spearfish School District 40-2Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide

Central and Southern Hills

In the timber and on the far southern edge, where lots get larger, well and septic get common, and the drive to a full service hospital becomes part of the decision.

Edgemont
Typical price
About $115,000 median sold, 19 sales over 24 monthsMedian sold $115,000. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through early October 2026, as of October 2026. 19 closed sales.
To Ellsworth AFB
About 110 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
To downtown Rapid City
About 100 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
Utility pattern
City water and sewer inside the limits
School district
Edgemont School District 23-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide

Prairie and Badlands

East of the Hills on the open prairie, where lots run larger, water is often a private well, services are thinner and the wind and the drive are the tradeoffs.

Wall
Typical price
About $277,000 average sold, 19 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $277,277. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through early October 2026, as of October 2026. 19 closed sales.
To Ellsworth AFB
About 43 miles westDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
To downtown Rapid City
About 50 miles west on I-90Distance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
Utility pattern
City water and sewer inside the limits
School district
Wall School District 51-5Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide

What changes

Between New Underwood, Custer, Belle Fourche, Hot Springs

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

Region: New UnderwoodPrairie and BadlandsCusterCentral and Southern HillsBelle FourcheNorthern Hills and I-90Hot SpringsCentral and Southern Hills
County: New UnderwoodPennington CountyCusterCuster CountyBelle FourcheButte CountyHot SpringsFall River County
Jurisdiction: New UnderwoodIncorporated city of New Underwood, with Pennington County outside the limitsCusterNot recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.Belle FourcheNot recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.Hot SpringsNot recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
Corridor: New UnderwoodI-90 exit 78CusterUS-16Belle FourcheUS-85 and SD-34Hot SpringsUS-79 and US-18
To downtown Rapid City: New UnderwoodAbout 18 miles west on I-90CusterAbout 50 to 60 minutesBelle FourcheAbout 55 to 60 minutesHot SpringsAbout 60 minutes
To Ellsworth AFB: New UnderwoodAbout 11 miles, exit 78 to the main gate at exit 67ACusterAbout an hour and ten minutesBelle FourcheAbout an hourHot SpringsAbout an hour and fifteen minutes

Side by side

New Underwood, Custer, Belle Fourche, Hot Springs

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	Prairie and BadlandsNew Underwood	Central and Southern HillsCuster	Northern Hills and I-90Belle Fourche	Central and Southern HillsHot Springs
Where it sits
Regiondiffers	Prairie and Badlands	Central and Southern Hills	Northern Hills and I-90	Central and Southern Hills
Countydiffers	Pennington County	Custer County	Butte County	Fall River County
JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.	Incorporated city of New Underwood, with Pennington County outside the limits	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
Corridordiffers	I-90 exit 78	US-16	US-85 and SD-34	US-79 and US-18
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers	About 18 miles west on I-90Distance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.	About 50 to 60 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 55 to 60 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 60 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers	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.	About an hour and ten minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	About an hourDriving time and distance, off peak.	About an hour and fifteen minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Winter drivingdiffers	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.	Winter roads are a genuine planning factor at this distance, and on acreage you need to know who maintains yours.	Out on the acreage the question is who maintains the road in winter, and it is worth asking in writing.	Chinook favored foothills make winters here warmer and drier than the northern Hills, so there is less snow to move.
Housing and lots
Typical pricediffers	About $353,000 average sold, 23 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $352,841. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through early October 2026, as of October 2026. 23 closed sales.	Median sold $548,000Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of October 2026. 67 closed sales.	$275k to $375kMedian sold $335,000. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of October 2026. 91 closed sales.	Median sold $315,150Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of October 2026. 90 closed sales.
Housing agediffers	Older in-town stock with scattered newer building.	Mixed ages. Older homes near the core, newer construction toward the edges.	Older homes in town, newer construction on the edges	Older homes near downtown, acreage outside it
New constructiondiffers	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Check current permits with the city or county.	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Check current permits with the city or county.
Acreagediffers	Acreage parcels are common here	Acreage is common outside the city core, with wells and septic systems typical on many rural properties.	Larger lots and acreage become more common around the edges of Belle Fourche and in nearby rural subdivisions.	Acreage is common outside the town core and is one of the more accessible rural-property options in the southern Black Hills.
Typical lotdiffers	Standard town lots on the grid, with ranch and acreage ground starting where the limits end.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.	Generous in town, acreage out past it	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	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify water and sewer service for the address.
Waterdiffers	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.	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.	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.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the provider for the address.
Sewerdiffers	City sewer inside the limits. Rural parcels are on private septic permitted by Pennington County.	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.	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.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the service for the address.
Short term rentalsdiffers	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.	Grandfathered permits are non transferable and expire when the property sells, and the rules flip at the city line.	General zoning and state rules do the work in Belle Fourche. Confirm the lodging use category with city hall for the address before you count on rental income.	No city ordinance I can locate as of August 2026, and unincorporated Fall River County does not administer zoning districts, so the county building, septic and access permits are the controls that apply.
Schools
School districtdiffers	New Underwood School District 51-3Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.	Custer School District 16-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.	Belle Fourche School District 9-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.	Hot Springs School District 23-2Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Daily errands
Groceriesdiffers	BJ's Country Store at the exit 78 interchange for fuel and convenience. Full grocery shopping is Rapid City, about 18 miles west.	Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.	Full-service grocery options in town include Lueders Food Centers and Lynn's Dakotamart.	Full-service grocery options in town include Sonny's Super Foods and Lynn's Dakotamart.
Healthcarediffers	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.	Monument Health Custer Hospital and clinic are in town.	Monument Health has a clinic in Belle Fourche. Hospital-level care is available in Spearfish.	Fall River Health Services operates a hospital, 24-hour emergency department and rural health clinic in Hot Springs.
Recreationdiffers	The municipal pool, with a donor-funded free swim program, and open prairie in every direction.	Custer State Park at the door, including Sylvan Lake, the Needles Highway, the wildlife loop and the September buffalo roundup.	The Geographic Center of the Nation monument, the Tri-State Museum, and the Black Hills Roundup rodeo every Fourth of July week since 1918.	Evans Plunge, the city run mineral springs pool, the Mammoth Site dig in the middle of town, Wind Cave National Park about 11 miles out and Angostura Reservoir about 10 miles for lake days.
The trade
Housing and patterndiffers	A prairie town with its own K through 12 campus and its own interstate exit, 18 miles from the city.	A county seat at a park entrance, with a replacement Monument Health hospital and acreage starting just past the city limits.	A ranching hub with a working main street, mature trees and a rodeo the whole town turns out for.	A sandstone downtown built along the Fall River, with Evans Plunge and Angostura close and water in every direction.
What you gaindiffers	The only town this close to Ellsworth that still educates its own kids from kindergarten through graduation.	You are inside the Hills with real acreage, Custer State Park at the door, and a new hospital in a town of about 1,900.	A $335,000 median across 91 trailing twelve month sales, under Spearfish, Sturgis and Deadwood, with acreage out past town.	Chinook favored foothills that keep winters warmer and drier than the northern Hills, a sandstone downtown on the Fall River, and acreage minutes out of town at a $315,150 median.
What you give updiffers	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.	Rapid City is 50 to 60 minutes and Ellsworth over an hour, grandfathered rental permits expire when a property sells, and outside the city limits there are no county building codes.	Rapid City is 55 to 60 minutes and Ellsworth about an hour, so this is a commute you pick on purpose.	Rapid City is about an hour on US-79 and US-18, which is a lot of highway for a daily commute.

Prairie and BadlandsNew Underwood
Central and Southern HillsCuster
Northern Hills and I-90Belle Fourche
Central and Southern HillsHot Springs

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

New Underwood: Prairie and Badlands
Custer: Central and Southern Hills
Belle Fourche: Northern Hills and I-90
Hot Springs: Central and Southern Hills

Countydiffers

New Underwood: Pennington County
Custer: Custer County
Belle Fourche: Butte County
Hot Springs: Fall River County

Jurisdictiondiffers

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

New Underwood: Incorporated city of New Underwood, with Pennington County outside the limits
Custer: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
Belle Fourche: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
Hot Springs: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.

Corridordiffers

New Underwood: I-90 exit 78
Custer: US-16
Belle Fourche: US-85 and SD-34
Hot Springs: US-79 and US-18

To downtown Rapid Citydiffers

New Underwood: About 18 miles west on I-90Distance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
Custer: About 50 to 60 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Belle Fourche: About 55 to 60 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Hot Springs: About 60 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.

To Ellsworth AFBdiffers

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.
Custer: About an hour and ten minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Belle Fourche: About an hourDriving time and distance, off peak.
Hot Springs: About an hour and fifteen minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.

Winter drivingdiffers

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.
Custer: Winter roads are a genuine planning factor at this distance, and on acreage you need to know who maintains yours.
Belle Fourche: Out on the acreage the question is who maintains the road in winter, and it is worth asking in writing.
Hot Springs: Chinook favored foothills make winters here warmer and drier than the northern Hills, so there is less snow to move.

Housing and lots

Typical pricediffers

New Underwood: About $353,000 average sold, 23 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $352,841. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through early October 2026, as of October 2026. 23 closed sales.
Custer: Median sold $548,000Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of October 2026. 67 closed sales.
Belle Fourche: $275k to $375kMedian sold $335,000. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of October 2026. 91 closed sales.
Hot Springs: Median sold $315,150Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of October 2026. 90 closed sales.

Housing agediffers

New Underwood: Older in-town stock with scattered newer building.
Custer: Mixed ages. Older homes near the core, newer construction toward the edges.
Belle Fourche: Older homes in town, newer construction on the edges
Hot Springs: Older homes near downtown, acreage outside it

New constructiondiffers

New Underwood: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Custer: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Check current permits with the city or county.
Belle Fourche: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Hot Springs: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Check current permits with the city or county.

Acreagediffers

New Underwood: Acreage parcels are common here
Custer: Acreage is common outside the city core, with wells and septic systems typical on many rural properties.
Belle Fourche: Larger lots and acreage become more common around the edges of Belle Fourche and in nearby rural subdivisions.
Hot Springs: Acreage is common outside the town core and is one of the more accessible rural-property options in the southern Black Hills.

Typical lotdiffers

New Underwood: Standard town lots on the grid, with ranch and acreage ground starting where the limits end.
Custer: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.
Belle Fourche: Generous in town, acreage out past it
Hot Springs: 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.

New Underwood: Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Custer: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
Belle Fourche: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
Hot Springs: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.

Utilities and rules

Utility patterndiffers

New Underwood: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Custer: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Belle Fourche: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Hot Springs: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify water and sewer service for the address.

Waterdiffers

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.
Custer: 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.
Belle Fourche: 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.
Hot Springs: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the provider for the address.

Sewerdiffers

New Underwood: City sewer inside the limits. Rural parcels are on private septic permitted by Pennington County.
Custer: 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.
Belle Fourche: 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.
Hot Springs: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the service for the address.

Short term rentalsdiffers

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.
Custer: Grandfathered permits are non transferable and expire when the property sells, and the rules flip at the city line.
Belle Fourche: General zoning and state rules do the work in Belle Fourche. Confirm the lodging use category with city hall for the address before you count on rental income.
Hot Springs: No city ordinance I can locate as of August 2026, and unincorporated Fall River County does not administer zoning districts, so the county building, septic and access permits are the controls that apply.

Schools

School districtdiffers

New Underwood: New Underwood School District 51-3Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Custer: Custer School District 16-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Belle Fourche: Belle Fourche School District 9-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Hot Springs: Hot Springs School District 23-2Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.

Daily errands

Groceriesdiffers

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.
Custer: Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.
Belle Fourche: Full-service grocery options in town include Lueders Food Centers and Lynn's Dakotamart.
Hot Springs: Full-service grocery options in town include Sonny's Super Foods and Lynn's Dakotamart.

Healthcarediffers

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.
Custer: Monument Health Custer Hospital and clinic are in town.
Belle Fourche: Monument Health has a clinic in Belle Fourche. Hospital-level care is available in Spearfish.
Hot Springs: Fall River Health Services operates a hospital, 24-hour emergency department and rural health clinic in Hot Springs.

Recreationdiffers

New Underwood: The municipal pool, with a donor-funded free swim program, and open prairie in every direction.
Custer: Custer State Park at the door, including Sylvan Lake, the Needles Highway, the wildlife loop and the September buffalo roundup.
Belle Fourche: The Geographic Center of the Nation monument, the Tri-State Museum, and the Black Hills Roundup rodeo every Fourth of July week since 1918.
Hot Springs: Evans Plunge, the city run mineral springs pool, the Mammoth Site dig in the middle of town, Wind Cave National Park about 11 miles out and Angostura Reservoir about 10 miles for lake days.

The trade

Housing and patterndiffers

New Underwood: A prairie town with its own K through 12 campus and its own interstate exit, 18 miles from the city.
Custer: A county seat at a park entrance, with a replacement Monument Health hospital and acreage starting just past the city limits.
Belle Fourche: A ranching hub with a working main street, mature trees and a rodeo the whole town turns out for.
Hot Springs: A sandstone downtown built along the Fall River, with Evans Plunge and Angostura close and water in every direction.

What you gaindiffers

New Underwood: The only town this close to Ellsworth that still educates its own kids from kindergarten through graduation.
Custer: You are inside the Hills with real acreage, Custer State Park at the door, and a new hospital in a town of about 1,900.
Belle Fourche: A $335,000 median across 91 trailing twelve month sales, under Spearfish, Sturgis and Deadwood, with acreage out past town.
Hot Springs: Chinook favored foothills that keep winters warmer and drier than the northern Hills, a sandstone downtown on the Fall River, and acreage minutes out of town at a $315,150 median.

What you give updiffers

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.
Custer: Rapid City is 50 to 60 minutes and Ellsworth over an hour, grandfathered rental permits expire when a property sells, and outside the city limits there are no county building codes.
Belle Fourche: Rapid City is 55 to 60 minutes and Ellsworth about an hour, so this is a commute you pick on purpose.
Hot Springs: Rapid City is about an hour on US-79 and US-18, which is a lot of highway for a daily commute.

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

Contact

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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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ComparingNew Underwood, Custer, Belle Fourche, Hot Springs

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