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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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

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What changes

Between St. Onge, Hill City, Box Elder

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

Region: St. OngeNorthern Hills and I-90Hill CityCentral and Southern HillsBox ElderRapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
County: St. OngeLawrence CountyHill CityPennington CountyBox ElderPennington County
Jurisdiction: St. OngeUnincorporated. No town government. Lawrence County zones the parcels and the Sheriff patrols them.Hill CityNot recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.Box ElderCity of Box Elder
Corridor: St. OngeSD 34, with I-90 seven miles southeast at WhitewoodHill CityUS-16Box ElderI-90
To downtown Rapid City: St. OngeAbout 44 miles, roughly 48 minutesHill CityAbout 30 to 35 minutes on US-16Box Elder19 min, 10.9 mi
To Ellsworth AFB: St. OngeAbout 45 milesHill CityAbout 45 minutesBox Elder9 min, 2.3 mi

Side by side

St. Onge, Hill City, 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	Northern Hills and I-90St. Onge	Central and Southern HillsHill City	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBox Elder
Where it sits
Regiondiffers	Northern Hills and I-90	Central and Southern Hills	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Countydiffers	Lawrence County	Pennington County	Pennington County
JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.	Unincorporated. No town government. Lawrence County zones the parcels and the Sheriff patrols them.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.	City of Box Elder
Corridordiffers	SD 34, with I-90 seven miles southeast at Whitewood	US-16	I-90
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers	About 44 miles, roughly 48 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 30 to 35 minutes on US-16Driving time and distance, off peak.	19 min, 10.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers	About 45 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.	About 45 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.	9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Winter drivingdiffers	Highway 34 is state maintained and connects three directions. County and private roads off it are a different conversation.	US-16 is state maintained. The forest roads off it climb, and elevation adds snow to whatever falls in town.	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	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.	Median sold $519,000Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, 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	An 1891 townsite with genuinely old buildings, surrounded by ranch and acreage property of every era.	Mixed ages. Older homes near the core, newer construction toward the edges.	Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement
New constructiondiffers	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	Limited infill and small-scale new construction occur around Hill City rather than large production neighborhoods.	Active, with subdivisions still building
Acreagediffers	Acreage parcels are common here	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.
Typical lotdiffers	Small townsite lots, with acreage and ranch ground around them.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.	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	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	Mostly private well and septic	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify water and sewer service for the address.	City water and sewer inside the limits
Waterdiffers	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.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the provider for the address.	City of Box Elder municipal
Sewerdiffers	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.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the service for the address.	City of Box Elder municipal
Short term rentalsdiffers	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.	Existing short term rental rights in residential zones do not transfer when a property sells. That is the trap.	A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up.
Schools
School districtdiffers	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.	Hill City School District 51-2Assignment 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	Nothing in town. Spearfish is eleven miles southeast and Belle Fourche thirteen northwest.	Krull's Market is a full-service grocery store in town.	Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.
Healthcarediffers	Monument Health Spearfish Hospital, a 35 bed facility with a 24 hour emergency department, about 18 minutes away.	Monument Health has a clinic in Hill City. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City, roughly 30 to 35 minutes away in clear conditions.	Monument Health Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City.
Recreationdiffers	Creek bottoms, hay ground and hunting country, with Spearfish Canyon and the northern Hills half an hour away.	The 1880 Train departs downtown, Crazy Horse Memorial is about 12 miles away, and Stone Faces Winery and Naked Winery are close.	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	An 1891 French-Canadian railroad townsite that is now a cattle auction crossroads and an acreage corridor.	A small mountain main street that triples every summer and empties out by October, with the 1880 Train leaving from downtown.	A young city building its first downtown at Liberty Plaza on 110 acres, with roughly 800 residential units planned.
What you gaindiffers	The cheapest ground in the northern Hills that still puts you eleven miles from a hospital and sixteen from three towns.	Main Street in the middle of the central hills, the Mickelson Trail through town, Sylvan Lake and Crazy Horse a short drive, and 30 to 35 minutes to Rapid City on US-16.	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	A three-way school district split you have to verify per parcel, and no services of any kind in town.	Rental rights do not survive a sale, and only 13 homes closed here in twelve months, so pricing rests on a small sample.	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.

Northern Hills and I-90St. Onge
Central and Southern HillsHill City
Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorBox Elder

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

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

Countydiffers

St. Onge: Lawrence County
Hill City: Pennington County
Box Elder: Pennington County

Jurisdictiondiffers

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

St. Onge: Unincorporated. No town government. Lawrence County zones the parcels and the Sheriff patrols them.
Hill City: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
Box Elder: City of Box Elder

Corridordiffers

St. Onge: SD 34, with I-90 seven miles southeast at Whitewood
Hill City: US-16
Box Elder: I-90

To downtown Rapid Citydiffers

St. Onge: About 44 miles, roughly 48 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Hill City: About 30 to 35 minutes on US-16Driving time and distance, off peak.
Box Elder: 19 min, 10.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.

To Ellsworth AFBdiffers

St. Onge: About 45 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
Hill City: About 45 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Box Elder: 9 min, 2.3 miDriving time and distance, off peak.

Winter drivingdiffers

St. Onge: Highway 34 is state maintained and connects three directions. County and private roads off it are a different conversation.
Hill City: US-16 is state maintained. The forest roads off it climb, and elevation adds snow to whatever falls in town.
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

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.
Hill City: Median sold $519,000Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, 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

St. Onge: An 1891 townsite with genuinely old buildings, surrounded by ranch and acreage property of every era.
Hill City: Mixed ages. Older homes near the core, newer construction toward the edges.
Box Elder: Heavily new construction since the B-21 announcement

New constructiondiffers

St. Onge: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Hill City: Limited infill and small-scale new construction occur around Hill City rather than large production neighborhoods.
Box Elder: Active, with subdivisions still building

Acreagediffers

St. Onge: Acreage parcels are common here
Hill City: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.
Box Elder: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.

Typical lotdiffers

St. Onge: Small townsite lots, with acreage and ranch ground around them.
Hill City: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.
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.

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

Utilities and rules

Utility patterndiffers

St. Onge: Mostly private well and septic
Hill City: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify water and sewer service for the address.
Box Elder: City water and sewer inside the limits

Waterdiffers

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.
Hill City: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the provider for the address.
Box Elder: City of Box Elder municipal

Sewerdiffers

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.
Hill City: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the service for the address.
Box Elder: City of Box Elder municipal

Short term rentalsdiffers

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.
Hill City: Existing short term rental rights in residential zones do not transfer when a property sells. That is the trap.
Box Elder: A verify first town for rental plans, with one specific misconception the guide clears up.

Schools

School districtdiffers

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.
Hill City: Hill City School District 51-2Assignment 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

St. Onge: Nothing in town. Spearfish is eleven miles southeast and Belle Fourche thirteen northwest.
Hill City: Krull's Market is a full-service grocery store in town.
Box Elder: Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.

Healthcarediffers

St. Onge: Monument Health Spearfish Hospital, a 35 bed facility with a 24 hour emergency department, about 18 minutes away.
Hill City: Monument Health has a clinic in Hill City. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City, roughly 30 to 35 minutes away in clear conditions.
Box Elder: Monument Health Box Elder Clinic provides primary and urgent care in town. Hospital-level care is in Rapid City.

Recreationdiffers

St. Onge: Creek bottoms, hay ground and hunting country, with Spearfish Canyon and the northern Hills half an hour away.
Hill City: The 1880 Train departs downtown, Crazy Horse Memorial is about 12 miles away, and Stone Faces Winery and Naked Winery are close.
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

St. Onge: No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
Hill City: 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

St. Onge: An 1891 French-Canadian railroad townsite that is now a cattle auction crossroads and an acreage corridor.
Hill City: A small mountain main street that triples every summer and empties out by October, with the 1880 Train leaving from downtown.
Box Elder: A young city building its first downtown at Liberty Plaza on 110 acres, with roughly 800 residential units planned.

What you gaindiffers

St. Onge: The cheapest ground in the northern Hills that still puts you eleven miles from a hospital and sixteen from three towns.
Hill City: Main Street in the middle of the central hills, the Mickelson Trail through town, Sylvan Lake and Crazy Horse a short drive, and 30 to 35 minutes to Rapid City on US-16.
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

St. Onge: A three-way school district split you have to verify per parcel, and no services of any kind in town.
Hill City: Rental rights do not survive a sale, and only 13 homes closed here in twelve months, so pricing rests on a small sample.
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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ComparingSt. Onge, Hill City, Box Elder

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