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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6 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.

Black Hawk
Typical price
Unincorporated, so closings report under Rapid City and Meade County rather than a Black Hawk median. Lot size and outbuildings move the price more than the street does.
To Ellsworth AFB
About 30 minutes, the same I-90 run as Summerset just northDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
About 12 to 15 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Utility pattern
Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
School district
Rapid City Area Schools 51-4 for most addressesAssignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Compare Guide
Box Elder
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.
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Green Valley
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.
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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.
Selected Guide
Rapid Valley
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.
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Summerset
Typical price
Builder inventory sets the level here, and the MLS publishes no Summerset median on its own.
To Ellsworth AFB
30 min, 19.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
15 min, 10.0 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Utility pattern
Sewer collection is provided by the City of Summerset. Water service varies by address and can include Black Hawk Water User District or Diamond D Water in Sun Valley.
School district
Meade 46-1 and Rapid City Area Schools 51-4, split within the cityAssignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Compare Guide

What changes

Between Rapid City, St. Onge, Edgemont

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

Region: Rapid CityRapid City and the Ellsworth corridorSt. OngeNorthern Hills and I-90EdgemontCentral and Southern Hills
County: Rapid CityPennington CountySt. OngeLawrence CountyEdgemontFall River County
Jurisdiction: Rapid CityCity of Rapid CitySt. OngeUnincorporated. No town government. Lawrence County zones the parcels and the Sheriff patrols them.EdgemontIncorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.
Corridor: Rapid CityI-90 along the north edgeSt. OngeSD 34, with I-90 seven miles southeast at WhitewoodEdgemontUS 18 and SD 471
To downtown Rapid City: Rapid City5 min, 1.5 miSt. OngeAbout 44 miles, roughly 48 minutesEdgemontAbout 100 miles northeast
To Ellsworth AFB: Rapid City24 min, 13.8 miSt. OngeAbout 45 milesEdgemontAbout 110 miles

Side by side

Rapid City, St. Onge, 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	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorRapid City	Northern Hills and I-90St. Onge	Central and Southern HillsEdgemont
Where it sits
Regiondiffers	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor	Northern Hills and I-90	Central and Southern Hills
Countydiffers	Pennington County	Lawrence County	Fall River County
JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.	City of Rapid City	Unincorporated. No town government. Lawrence County zones the parcels and the Sheriff patrols them.	Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.
Corridordiffers	I-90 along the north edge	SD 34, with I-90 seven miles southeast at Whitewood	US 18 and SD 471
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers	5 min, 1.5 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 44 miles, roughly 48 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 100 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers	24 min, 13.8 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 45 milesDistance 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.
Winter drivingdiffers	April is the snowiest month at 10.1 inches on average, and the city averages about five inches a month against fifteen up in the Hills.	Highway 34 is state maintained and connects three directions. County and private roads off it are a different conversation.	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	$300k to $450kMedian sold $349,950. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 706 closed sales.	No figure published. St. Onge is Mount Rushmore Area MLS territory and the current feed covers only the Black Hills MLS, so a zero here would be a gap in the data rather than a fact about the market.	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.
Housing agediffers	Everything from 1875 downtown streets to current new construction	An 1891 townsite with genuinely old buildings, surrounded by ranch and acreage property of every era.	An 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count.
New constructiondiffers	Active, with subdivisions still building	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	None underway
Acreagediffers	Some acreage, mostly platted town lots	Acreage parcels are common here	Acreage parcels are common here
Typical lotdiffers	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.	Small townsite lots, with acreage and ranch ground around them.	Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.
Covenants and HOAdiffersCovenants are recorded per plat. The title commitment lists what binds the parcel.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.	Few plats here carry recorded covenants	Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers	City water and sewer inside the limits	Mostly private well and septic	City water and sewer inside the limits
Waterdiffers	City of Rapid City municipal	The Saint Onge Sewer and Water Company serves about 78 connections around the townsite, with a clean compliance record. Parcels outside that system are on private wells. There is no rural water district covering this area.	City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.
Sewerdiffers	City of Rapid City sanitary sewer	The water company's name implies sewer service, but I have not been able to verify from the public record which parcels it reaches. Assume private septic outside the townsite and confirm the rest before closing.	City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.
Short term rentalsdiffers	Vacation rentals inside city limits are regulated, and the ordinance is recent. Read the guide before you count on rental income.	Unincorporated Lawrence County, so no municipal ordinance applies. Note that unincorporated Lawrence County declined to require a vacation home rental permit, so there is no county permit to obtain either.	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	Rapid City Area Schools 51-4Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.	Spearfish 40-2 at the townsite, with Belle Fourche 09-1 to the north and Meade 46-1 to the east. Parcel 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	Groceries, the hospital and the airport are all inside the city, so a supply run is minutes rather than a trip.	Nothing in town. Spearfish is eleven miles southeast and Belle Fourche thirteen northwest.	Small-town grocery and convenience in Edgemont, with Hot Springs about 35 miles east for more.
Healthcarediffers	Monument Health's main campus is here, which is the reason a lot of the region drives in.	Monument Health Spearfish Hospital, a 35 bed facility with a 24 hour emergency department, about 18 minutes away.	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	Main Street Square and Art Alley downtown, with Mount Rushmore southwest, Custer State Park south and the Badlands east.	Creek bottoms, hay ground and hunting country, with Spearfish Canyon and the northern Hills half an hour away.	The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction.
Mapped subdivisions
Outlines on filediffers	13 mapped outlines, 13 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.	No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
The trade
Housing and patterndiffers	A working city with a real downtown, older streets with mature trees near the middle and new subdivisions on the edges.	An 1891 French-Canadian railroad townsite that is now a cattle auction crossroads and an acreage corridor.	A working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains.
What you gaindiffers	Everything the region has sits in one place: Monument Health, the airport, the widest run of housing stock, and 24 minutes to the Ellsworth gate.	The cheapest ground in the northern Hills that still puts you eleven miles from a hospital and sixteen from three towns.	More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities.
What you give updiffers	You buy into the region's deepest demand, and the recent vacation rental ordinance limits what you can do with a house you do not live in.	A three-way school district split you have to verify per parcel, and no services of any kind in town.	A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy.

Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorRapid City
Northern Hills and I-90St. Onge
Central and Southern HillsEdgemont

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

Rapid City: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
St. Onge: Northern Hills and I-90
Edgemont: Central and Southern Hills

Countydiffers

Rapid City: Pennington County
St. Onge: Lawrence County
Edgemont: Fall River County

Jurisdictiondiffers

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

Rapid City: City of Rapid City
St. Onge: Unincorporated. No town government. Lawrence County zones the parcels and the Sheriff patrols them.
Edgemont: Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.

Corridordiffers

Rapid City: I-90 along the north edge
St. Onge: SD 34, with I-90 seven miles southeast at Whitewood
Edgemont: US 18 and SD 471

To downtown Rapid Citydiffers

Rapid City: 5 min, 1.5 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
St. Onge: About 44 miles, roughly 48 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Edgemont: About 100 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.

To Ellsworth AFBdiffers

Rapid City: 24 min, 13.8 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
St. Onge: About 45 milesDistance 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.

Winter drivingdiffers

Rapid City: April is the snowiest month at 10.1 inches on average, and the city averages about five inches a month against fifteen up in the Hills.
St. Onge: Highway 34 is state maintained and connects three directions. County and private roads off it are a different conversation.
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

Rapid City: $300k to $450kMedian sold $349,950. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 706 closed sales.
St. Onge: No figure published. St. Onge is Mount Rushmore Area MLS territory and the current feed covers only the Black Hills MLS, so a zero here would be a gap in the data rather than a fact about the market.
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.

Housing agediffers

Rapid City: Everything from 1875 downtown streets to current new construction
St. Onge: An 1891 townsite with genuinely old buildings, surrounded by ranch and acreage property of every era.
Edgemont: An 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count.

New constructiondiffers

Rapid City: Active, with subdivisions still building
St. Onge: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Edgemont: None underway

Acreagediffers

Rapid City: Some acreage, mostly platted town lots
St. Onge: Acreage parcels are common here
Edgemont: Acreage parcels are common here

Typical lotdiffers

Rapid City: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.
St. Onge: Small townsite lots, with acreage and ranch ground around them.
Edgemont: Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.

Covenants and HOAdiffers

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

Rapid City: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
St. Onge: Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Edgemont: Few plats here carry recorded covenants

Utilities and rules

Utility patterndiffers

Rapid City: City water and sewer inside the limits
St. Onge: Mostly private well and septic
Edgemont: City water and sewer inside the limits

Waterdiffers

Rapid City: City of Rapid City municipal
St. Onge: The Saint Onge Sewer and Water Company serves about 78 connections around the townsite, with a clean compliance record. Parcels outside that system are on private wells. There is no rural water district covering this area.
Edgemont: City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.

Sewerdiffers

Rapid City: City of Rapid City sanitary sewer
St. Onge: The water company's name implies sewer service, but I have not been able to verify from the public record which parcels it reaches. Assume private septic outside the townsite and confirm the rest before closing.
Edgemont: City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.

Short term rentalsdiffers

Rapid City: Vacation rentals inside city limits are regulated, and the ordinance is recent. Read the guide before you count on rental income.
St. Onge: Unincorporated Lawrence County, so no municipal ordinance applies. Note that unincorporated Lawrence County declined to require a vacation home rental permit, so there is no county permit to obtain either.
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

Rapid City: Rapid City Area Schools 51-4Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
St. Onge: Spearfish 40-2 at the townsite, with Belle Fourche 09-1 to the north and Meade 46-1 to the east. Parcel 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

Rapid City: Groceries, the hospital and the airport are all inside the city, so a supply run is minutes rather than a trip.
St. Onge: Nothing in town. Spearfish is eleven miles southeast and Belle Fourche thirteen northwest.
Edgemont: Small-town grocery and convenience in Edgemont, with Hot Springs about 35 miles east for more.

Healthcarediffers

Rapid City: Monument Health's main campus is here, which is the reason a lot of the region drives in.
St. Onge: Monument Health Spearfish Hospital, a 35 bed facility with a 24 hour emergency department, about 18 minutes away.
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

Rapid City: Main Street Square and Art Alley downtown, with Mount Rushmore southwest, Custer State Park south and the Badlands east.
St. Onge: Creek bottoms, hay ground and hunting country, with Spearfish Canyon and the northern Hills half an hour away.
Edgemont: The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction.

Mapped subdivisions

Outlines on filediffers

Rapid City: 13 mapped outlines, 13 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.
St. Onge: No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
Edgemont: No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.

The trade

Housing and patterndiffers

Rapid City: A working city with a real downtown, older streets with mature trees near the middle and new subdivisions on the edges.
St. Onge: An 1891 French-Canadian railroad townsite that is now a cattle auction crossroads and an acreage corridor.
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

Rapid City: Everything the region has sits in one place: Monument Health, the airport, the widest run of housing stock, and 24 minutes to the Ellsworth gate.
St. Onge: The cheapest ground in the northern Hills that still puts you eleven miles from a hospital and sixteen from three towns.
Edgemont: More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities.

What you give updiffers

Rapid City: You buy into the region's deepest demand, and the recent vacation rental ordinance limits what you can do with a house you do not live in.
St. Onge: A three-way school district split you have to verify per parcel, and no services of any kind in town.
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

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ComparingRapid City, St. Onge, Edgemont

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