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, 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.

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.
4 is the most that fits. Drop one first.Guide

What changes

Between Sturgis, Edgemont, Spearfish, Summerset

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

Region: SturgisNorthern Hills and I-90EdgemontCentral and Southern HillsSpearfishNorthern Hills and I-90SummersetRapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
County: SturgisMeade CountyEdgemontFall River CountySpearfishLawrence CountySummersetMeade County
Jurisdiction: SturgisNot recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.EdgemontIncorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.SpearfishNot recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.SummersetCity of Summerset, incorporated July 2005
Corridor: SturgisI-90EdgemontUS 18 and SD 471SpearfishI-90SummersetI-90
To downtown Rapid City: Sturgis33 min, 28.9 miEdgemontAbout 100 miles northeastSpearfish53 min, 47.8 miSummerset15 min, 10.0 mi
To Ellsworth AFB: Sturgis48 min, 38.2 miEdgemontAbout 110 milesSpearfish68 min, 57.0 miSummerset30 min, 19.2 mi

Side by side

Sturgis, Edgemont, Spearfish, Summerset

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-90Sturgis	Central and Southern HillsEdgemont	Northern Hills and I-90Spearfish	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorSummerset
Where it sits
Regiondiffers	Northern Hills and I-90	Central and Southern Hills	Northern Hills and I-90	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Countydiffers	Meade County	Fall River County	Lawrence County	Meade County
JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.	Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.	City of Summerset, incorporated July 2005
Corridordiffers	I-90	US 18 and SD 471	I-90	I-90
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers	33 min, 28.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 100 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.	53 min, 47.8 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	15 min, 10.0 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers	48 min, 38.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 110 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.	68 min, 57.0 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	30 min, 19.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Winter drivingdiffers	I-90 is state maintained and the city clears its own streets. The county roads out past the edges clear later.	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.	Chinook winds off the hills are a genuine feature of winter in this corridor.	The commute is I-90, so winter driving here is interstate driving rather than a two lane canyon road.
Housing and lots
Typical pricediffers	$300k to $450kMedian sold $365,000. Mount Rushmore Area MLS, all residential, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 97 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.	$400k to $600kMedian sold $475,000. Mount Rushmore Area MLS, all residential, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 199 closed sales.	Builder inventory sets the level here, and the MLS publishes no Summerset median on its own.
Housing agediffers	Older near the core, newer on the edges	An 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count.	Older stock in the middle, edge subdivisions built 1996 to 2023	Mostly 2000s to present
New constructiondiffers	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	None underway	New construction remains active on the edges of town, including areas such as Sky Ridge and other newer developments.	Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Acreagediffers	Acreage becomes more common outside the city core, including areas east of Sturgis and along the surrounding canyon and prairie corridors.	Acreage parcels are common here	Acreage is available around Spearfish, primarily on surrounding Lawrence County ground rather than in the city core.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.
Typical lotdiffers	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.	Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.	Wide lots on new streets
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	Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others	Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify water and sewer service for the address.	City water and sewer inside the limits	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.	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.
Waterdiffers	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the provider for the address.	City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.	City water inside the Spearfish limits. Acreage outside the limits runs on a private well or a rural water district.Read off the townwide utility pattern in the guide. The service address controls, so confirm the provider before you write an offer.	Black Hawk Water User District, or Diamond D Water in Sun Valley
Sewerdiffers	Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the service for the address.	City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.	City sewer inside the Spearfish limits, private septic on acreage 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 of Summerset
Short term rentalsdiffers	No short term rental licensing ordinance. What the city does regulate is residential camping during the Rally.	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.	The city studied rules in 2023 and 2024 and maintains an official short term rental page. Verify the current ordinance first.	The thinnest rules on this list, which means a rental plan has to be pinned down for the specific address.
Schools
School districtdiffers	Meade School District 46-1Assignment 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.	Spearfish School District 40-2Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the 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.
Daily errands
Groceriesdiffers	Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.	Small-town grocery and convenience in Edgemont, with Hot Springs about 35 miles east for more.	Full-service grocery options in town include Walmart, Safeway and Lueders Food Centers.	Not recorded in this guide. Check what is open near the address.
Healthcarediffers	Monument Health Sturgis Hospital and clinic are in town.	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 Spearfish Hospital and outpatient clinics are in town.	Hospital-level care is in Rapid City, about 15 minutes south.
Recreationdiffers	Bear Butte State Park, Fort Meade Recreation Area and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum, with the northern hills toward Spearfish and Deadwood close.	The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction.	D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery, Black Hills State University events, and Terry Peak and Deadwood a short drive south.	Leisure Lane, Steamboat and Castlewood parks are the everyday recreation. Leisure Lane is the big one, with playgrounds, basketball, picnic shelters, open grass and the community garden.
Mapped subdivisions
Outlines on filediffers	9 mapped outlines, 8 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.	25 mapped outlines, 13 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.	2 mapped outlines, 2 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.
The trade
Housing and patterndiffers	A full Main Street town with its own grocery, hospital and high school, and Bear Butte on the horizon.	A working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains.	A university town with a walkable middle, growing fast enough that new construction has moved to the edges.	New streets and builder inventory, with Highlands at Norman Ranch adding over 100 first phase homesites across more than 300 acres.
What you gaindiffers	A town that stands on its own, grocery, hospital and high school inside it, at a price per square foot below Rapid City.	More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities.	A downtown you can walk across, Black Hills State and Spearfish Canyon out the back door, on city water and sewer.	Newer houses on city sewer with Hills views at a price central Rapid City does not offer, and Highlands at Norman Ranch is still selling first phase homesites.
What you give updiffers	Half an hour of interstate each way to Rapid City, and for the first two weeks of August the Rally is your town.	A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy.	The highest median sold price of the region's higher volume markets at $475,000 across 199 sales, and Rapid City is 53 minutes on the interstate with the Ellsworth gate 68.	You are fifteen minutes out from most of Rapid City's services and you drive I-90 to get to them in the winter. The city is also split between Meade 46-1 and Rapid City Area Schools 51-4, so the district follows the address.

Northern Hills and I-90Sturgis
Central and Southern HillsEdgemont
Northern Hills and I-90Spearfish
Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorSummerset

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

Sturgis: Northern Hills and I-90
Edgemont: Central and Southern Hills
Spearfish: Northern Hills and I-90
Summerset: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor

Countydiffers

Sturgis: Meade County
Edgemont: Fall River County
Spearfish: Lawrence County
Summerset: Meade County

Jurisdictiondiffers

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

Sturgis: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
Edgemont: Incorporated city of Edgemont, with Fall River County outside the limits.
Spearfish: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The address decides whether it is city or county ground.
Summerset: City of Summerset, incorporated July 2005

Corridordiffers

Sturgis: I-90
Edgemont: US 18 and SD 471
Spearfish: I-90
Summerset: I-90

To downtown Rapid Citydiffers

Sturgis: 33 min, 28.9 miDriving 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.
Spearfish: 53 min, 47.8 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Summerset: 15 min, 10.0 miDriving time and distance, off peak.

To Ellsworth AFBdiffers

Sturgis: 48 min, 38.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Edgemont: About 110 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
Spearfish: 68 min, 57.0 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Summerset: 30 min, 19.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.

Winter drivingdiffers

Sturgis: I-90 is state maintained and the city clears its own streets. The county roads out past the edges clear later.
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.
Spearfish: Chinook winds off the hills are a genuine feature of winter in this corridor.
Summerset: The commute is I-90, so winter driving here is interstate driving rather than a two lane canyon road.

Housing and lots

Typical pricediffers

Sturgis: $300k to $450kMedian sold $365,000. Mount Rushmore Area MLS, all residential, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 97 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.
Spearfish: $400k to $600kMedian sold $475,000. Mount Rushmore Area MLS, all residential, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 199 closed sales.
Summerset: Builder inventory sets the level here, and the MLS publishes no Summerset median on its own.

Housing agediffers

Sturgis: Older near the core, newer on the edges
Edgemont: An 1890 railroad town, so mostly older stock, with about a quarter of units vacant at the 2020 count.
Spearfish: Older stock in the middle, edge subdivisions built 1996 to 2023
Summerset: Mostly 2000s to present

New constructiondiffers

Sturgis: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Edgemont: None underway
Spearfish: New construction remains active on the edges of town, including areas such as Sky Ridge and other newer developments.
Summerset: Limited, mostly infill and small projects

Acreagediffers

Sturgis: Acreage becomes more common outside the city core, including areas east of Sturgis and along the surrounding canyon and prairie corridors.
Edgemont: Acreage parcels are common here
Spearfish: Acreage is available around Spearfish, primarily on surrounding Lawrence County ground rather than in the city core.
Summerset: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.

Typical lotdiffers

Sturgis: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.
Edgemont: Town lots inside the limits, ranch scale outside them.
Spearfish: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot dimensions.
Summerset: Wide lots on new streets

Covenants and HOAdiffers

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

Sturgis: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Read the recorded documents for the plat.
Edgemont: Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Spearfish: Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others
Summerset: Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others

Utilities and rules

Utility patterndiffers

Sturgis: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify water and sewer service for the address.
Edgemont: City water and sewer inside the limits
Spearfish: 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.
Summerset: 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.

Waterdiffers

Sturgis: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the provider for the address.
Edgemont: City of Edgemont municipal water. Rural parcels are on private wells.
Spearfish: City water inside the Spearfish limits. Acreage outside the limits runs on a private well or a rural water district.Read off the townwide utility pattern in the guide. The service address controls, so confirm the provider before you write an offer.
Summerset: Black Hawk Water User District, or Diamond D Water in Sun Valley

Sewerdiffers

Sturgis: Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify the service for the address.
Edgemont: City sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.
Spearfish: City sewer inside the Spearfish limits, private septic on acreage outside them.Read off the townwide utility pattern in the guide. The service address controls, so confirm the provider before you write an offer.
Summerset: City of Summerset

Short term rentalsdiffers

Sturgis: No short term rental licensing ordinance. What the city does regulate is residential camping during the Rally.
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.
Spearfish: The city studied rules in 2023 and 2024 and maintains an official short term rental page. Verify the current ordinance first.
Summerset: The thinnest rules on this list, which means a rental plan has to be pinned down for the specific address.

Schools

School districtdiffers

Sturgis: Meade School District 46-1Assignment 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.
Spearfish: Spearfish School District 40-2Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Summerset: 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.

Daily errands

Groceriesdiffers

Sturgis: Lynn's Dakotamart is a full-service grocery store in town.
Edgemont: Small-town grocery and convenience in Edgemont, with Hot Springs about 35 miles east for more.
Spearfish: Full-service grocery options in town include Walmart, Safeway and Lueders Food Centers.
Summerset: Not recorded in this guide. Check what is open near the address.

Healthcarediffers

Sturgis: Monument Health Sturgis Hospital and clinic are in town.
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.
Spearfish: Monument Health Spearfish Hospital and outpatient clinics are in town.
Summerset: Hospital-level care is in Rapid City, about 15 minutes south.

Recreationdiffers

Sturgis: Bear Butte State Park, Fort Meade Recreation Area and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum, with the northern hills toward Spearfish and Deadwood close.
Edgemont: The hundred-year-old city park, the campground, the Elk Mountains and open country in every direction.
Spearfish: D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery, Black Hills State University events, and Terry Peak and Deadwood a short drive south.
Summerset: Leisure Lane, Steamboat and Castlewood parks are the everyday recreation. Leisure Lane is the big one, with playgrounds, basketball, picnic shelters, open grass and the community garden.

Mapped subdivisions

Outlines on filediffers

Sturgis: 9 mapped outlines, 8 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.
Edgemont: No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.
Spearfish: 25 mapped outlines, 13 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.
Summerset: 2 mapped outlines, 2 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.

The trade

Housing and patterndiffers

Sturgis: A full Main Street town with its own grocery, hospital and high school, and Bear Butte on the horizon.
Edgemont: A working BNSF crew-change town founded in 1890, at the far southern edge of the Hills below the Elk Mountains.
Spearfish: A university town with a walkable middle, growing fast enough that new construction has moved to the edges.
Summerset: New streets and builder inventory, with Highlands at Norman Ranch adding over 100 first phase homesites across more than 300 acres.

What you gaindiffers

Sturgis: A town that stands on its own, grocery, hospital and high school inside it, at a price per square foot below Rapid City.
Edgemont: More town per dollar than anywhere else in the region, with its own school district and city utilities.
Spearfish: A downtown you can walk across, Black Hills State and Spearfish Canyon out the back door, on city water and sewer.
Summerset: Newer houses on city sewer with Hills views at a price central Rapid City does not offer, and Highlands at Norman Ranch is still selling first phase homesites.

What you give updiffers

Sturgis: Half an hour of interstate each way to Rapid City, and for the first two weeks of August the Rally is your town.
Edgemont: A hundred miles from Rapid City, 35 from a hospital, with two unresolved questions hanging over the local economy.
Spearfish: The highest median sold price of the region's higher volume markets at $475,000 across 199 sales, and Rapid City is 53 minutes on the interstate with the Ellsworth gate 68.
Summerset: You are fifteen minutes out from most of Rapid City's services and you drive I-90 to get to them in the winter. The city is also split between Meade 46-1 and Rapid City Area Schools 51-4, so the district follows the address.

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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ComparingSturgis, Edgemont, Spearfish, Summerset

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