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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1 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

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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 New Underwood, Edgemont, Box Elder

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 BadlandsEdgemontCentral and Southern HillsBox ElderRapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
County: New UnderwoodPennington CountyEdgemontFall River CountyBox ElderPennington County
Jurisdiction: New UnderwoodIncorporated city of New Underwood, with Pennington County outside the limitsEdgemontIncorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.Box ElderCity of Box Elder
Corridor: New UnderwoodI-90 exit 78EdgemontUS 18 and SD 471Box ElderI-90
To downtown Rapid City: New UnderwoodAbout 18 miles west on I-90EdgemontAbout 100 miles northeastBox Elder19 min, 10.9 mi
To Ellsworth AFB: New UnderwoodAbout 11 miles, exit 78 to the main gate at exit 67AEdgemontAbout 110 milesBox Elder9 min, 2.3 mi

Side by side

New Underwood, Edgemont, Box Elder

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 HillsEdgemont	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBox Elder
Where it sits
Regiondiffers	Prairie and Badlands	Central and Southern Hills	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Countydiffers	Pennington County	Fall River County	Pennington County
JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.	Incorporated city of New Underwood, with Pennington County outside the limits	Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.	City of Box Elder
Corridordiffers	I-90 exit 78	US 18 and SD 471	I-90
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 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.
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 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.
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.	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.
Housing and lots
Typical pricediffers	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.	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.
Housing agediffers	Older in-town stock with scattered newer building.	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
New constructiondiffers	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	None underway	Active, with subdivisions still building
Acreagediffers	Acreage parcels are common here	Acreage parcels are common here	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.
Typical lotdiffers	Standard town lots on the grid, with ranch and acreage ground starting where the limits end.	Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.	Small city lots, about 0.15 to 0.18 acres in the newer plats
Covenants and HOAdiffersCovenants are recorded per plat. The title commitment lists what binds the parcel.	Few plats here carry recorded covenants	Few plats here carry recorded covenants	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	City water and sewer inside the limits	City water and sewer inside the limits
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.	City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.	City of Box Elder municipal
Sewerdiffers	City sewer inside the limits. Rural parcels are on private septic permitted by Pennington County.	City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.	City of Box Elder municipal
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.	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.
Schools
School districtdiffers	New Underwood School District 51-3Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.	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.
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.	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.
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.	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.
Recreationdiffers	The municipal pool, with a donor-funded free swim program, and open prairie in every direction.	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.
Mapped subdivisions
Outlines on filediffers	No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.	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.
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 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.
What you gaindiffers	The only town this close to Ellsworth that still educates its own kids from kindergarten through graduation.	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.
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.	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.

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

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

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

Countydiffers

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

Corridordiffers

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

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.
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.

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.
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.

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.
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.

Housing and lots

Typical pricediffers

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.
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.

Housing agediffers

New Underwood: Older in-town stock with scattered newer building.
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 constructiondiffers

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

Acreagediffers

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

Typical lotdiffers

New Underwood: Standard town lots on the grid, with ranch and acreage ground starting where the limits end.
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

Covenants and HOAdiffers

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

New Underwood: Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Edgemont: Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Box Elder: 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
Edgemont: City water and sewer inside the limits
Box Elder: City water and sewer inside the limits

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.
Edgemont: City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.
Box Elder: City of Box Elder municipal

Sewerdiffers

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

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.
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.

Schools

School districtdiffers

New Underwood: New Underwood School District 51-3Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
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.

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.
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.

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.
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.

Recreationdiffers

New Underwood: The municipal pool, with a donor-funded free swim program, and open prairie in every direction.
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.

Mapped subdivisions

Outlines on filediffers

New Underwood: No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
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.

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.
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.

What you gaindiffers

New Underwood: The only town this close to Ellsworth that still educates its own kids from kindergarten through graduation.
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.

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.
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.

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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ComparingNew Underwood, Edgemont, Box Elder

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