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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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.

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The five facts that decide a shortlist

Find a community

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.

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.
Compare 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.
Compare 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.
Compare 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.
Selected 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.
Compare Guide

What changes

Between New Underwood, Green Valley, Edgemont

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 BadlandsGreen ValleyRapid City and the Ellsworth corridorEdgemontCentral and Southern Hills
County: New UnderwoodPennington CountyGreen ValleyPennington CountyEdgemontFall River County
Jurisdiction: New UnderwoodIncorporated city of New Underwood, with Pennington County outside the limitsGreen ValleyUnincorporated. No city government. Pennington County zones the lots and the County Sheriff patrols them.EdgemontIncorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.
Corridor: New UnderwoodI-90 exit 78Green ValleySD 44EdgemontUS 18 and SD 471
To downtown Rapid City: New UnderwoodAbout 18 miles west on I-90Green ValleyAbout 6 miles northwestEdgemontAbout 100 miles northeast
To Ellsworth AFB: New UnderwoodAbout 11 miles, exit 78 to the main gate at exit 67AGreen ValleyAbout 15 minutes northEdgemontAbout 110 miles

Side by side

New Underwood, Green Valley, Edgemont

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	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorGreen Valley	Central and Southern HillsEdgemont
Where it sits
Regiondiffers	Prairie and Badlands	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor	Central and Southern Hills
Countydiffers	Pennington County	Pennington 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	Unincorporated. No city government. Pennington County zones the lots and the County Sheriff patrols them.	Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.
Corridordiffers	I-90 exit 78	SD 44	US 18 and SD 471
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 6 miles northwestDistance 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.
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 15 minutes northDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 110 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
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.	Highway 44 is a state priority. Everything off it is county, and open prairie means blowing snow reclaims a cleared road quickly.	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.
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.	No published median exists for the community. Closed sales on the specific street are the only figure worth quoting here.	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.
Housing agediffers	Older in-town stock with scattered newer building.	Mostly late twentieth century through current.	An 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count.
New constructiondiffers	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	None underway
Acreagediffers	Acreage parcels are common here	Some acreage, mostly platted town lots	Acreage parcels are common here
Typical lotdiffers	Standard town lots on the grid, with ranch and acreage ground starting where the limits end.	Generous by city standards, with larger parcels toward Radar Hill and Reservoir Road.	Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.
Covenants and HOACovenants are recorded per plat. The title commitment lists what binds the parcel.	Few plats here carry recorded covenants	Few plats here carry recorded covenants	Few plats here carry recorded covenants
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	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.	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 Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.
Sewerdiffers	City sewer inside the limits. Rural parcels are on private septic permitted by Pennington County.	District sewer where the district reaches, private septic where it does not. Confirm per parcel.	City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.
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.	Unincorporated county, so no municipal short-term rental ordinance applies. County zoning and any subdivision covenants govern, and state licensing applies once you rent.	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.
Schools
School districtdiffers	New Underwood School District 51-3Assignment 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.	Edgemont School District 23-1Assignment 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.	The Highway 44 corridor and east Rapid City, a few minutes northwest.	Small-town grocery and convenience in Edgemont, with Hot Springs about 35 miles east for more.
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.	The Monument Health Rapid Valley Clinic on Elderberry Boulevard for walk-in care, with the hospital 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.
Recreationdiffers	The municipal pool, with a donor-funded free swim program, and open prairie in every direction.	Open prairie, the county land east of town, and the whole Black Hills half an hour the other direction.	The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction.
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.	Flat prairie subdivisions east of the city, growing steadily, on county rules.	A working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains.
What you gaindiffers	The only town this close to Ellsworth that still educates its own kids from kindergarten through graduation.	More ground for the money six miles from Rapid City, with Ellsworth fifteen minutes north.	More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities.
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 school district line that runs through the community, and a water arrangement that changes street to street.	A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy.

Prairie and BadlandsNew Underwood
Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorGreen Valley
Central and Southern HillsEdgemont

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

New Underwood: Prairie and Badlands
Green Valley: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Edgemont: Central and Southern Hills

Countydiffers

New Underwood: Pennington County
Green Valley: Pennington County
Edgemont: 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
Green Valley: Unincorporated. No city government. Pennington County zones the lots and the County Sheriff patrols them.
Edgemont: Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.

Corridordiffers

New Underwood: I-90 exit 78
Green Valley: SD 44
Edgemont: US 18 and SD 471

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.
Green Valley: About 6 miles northwestDistance 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.

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.
Green Valley: About 15 minutes northDriving time and distance, off peak.
Edgemont: About 110 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.

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.
Green Valley: Highway 44 is a state priority. Everything off it is county, and open prairie means blowing snow reclaims a cleared road quickly.
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.

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.
Green Valley: No published median exists for the community. Closed sales on the specific street are the only figure worth quoting here.
Edgemont: 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.

Housing agediffers

New Underwood: Older in-town stock with scattered newer building.
Green Valley: Mostly late twentieth century through current.
Edgemont: An 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count.

New constructiondiffers

New Underwood: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Green Valley: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Edgemont: None underway

Acreagediffers

New Underwood: Acreage parcels are common here
Green Valley: Some acreage, mostly platted town lots
Edgemont: Acreage parcels are common here

Typical lotdiffers

New Underwood: Standard town lots on the grid, with ranch and acreage ground starting where the limits end.
Green Valley: Generous by city standards, with larger parcels toward Radar Hill and Reservoir Road.
Edgemont: Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.

Covenants and HOA

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

New Underwood: Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Green Valley: Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Edgemont: Few plats here carry recorded covenants

Utilities and rules

Utility patterndiffers

New Underwood: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Green Valley: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Edgemont: 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.
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.
Edgemont: City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.

Sewerdiffers

New Underwood: City sewer inside the limits. Rural parcels are on private septic permitted by Pennington County.
Green Valley: District sewer where the district reaches, private septic where it does not. Confirm per parcel.
Edgemont: City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.

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.
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.
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.

Schools

School districtdiffers

New Underwood: New Underwood School District 51-3Assignment 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.
Edgemont: Edgemont School District 23-1Assignment 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.
Green Valley: The Highway 44 corridor and east Rapid City, a few minutes northwest.
Edgemont: Small-town grocery and convenience in Edgemont, with Hot Springs about 35 miles east for more.

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.
Green Valley: The Monument Health Rapid Valley Clinic on Elderberry Boulevard for walk-in care, with the hospital 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.

Recreationdiffers

New Underwood: The municipal pool, with a donor-funded free swim program, and open prairie in every direction.
Green Valley: Open prairie, the county land east of town, and the whole Black Hills half an hour the other direction.
Edgemont: The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction.

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.
Green Valley: Flat prairie subdivisions east of the city, growing steadily, on county rules.
Edgemont: A working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains.

What you gaindiffers

New Underwood: The only town this close to Ellsworth that still educates its own kids from kindergarten through graduation.
Green Valley: More ground for the money six miles from Rapid City, with Ellsworth fifteen minutes north.
Edgemont: More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities.

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.
Green Valley: A school district line that runs through the community, and a water arrangement that changes street to street.
Edgemont: A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy.

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

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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ComparingNew Underwood, Green Valley, Edgemont

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