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.

Narrow it

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.

Browse

The five facts that decide a shortlist

Find a community

Selected, 2 of 4

Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor

Everything within about twenty five minutes of downtown Rapid City or the Ellsworth main gate, where most of the newer inventory, the shortest commutes and the jurisdiction questions about city versus county service are.

Rapid City
Typical price
$300k to $450kMedian sold $349,950. Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 706 closed sales.
To Ellsworth AFB
24 min, 13.8 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
5 min, 1.5 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Utility pattern
City water and sewer inside the limits
School district
Rapid City Area Schools 51-4Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Compare Guide

What changes

Between Summerset, Colonial Pine Hills

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

County: SummersetMeade CountyColonial Pine HillsPennington County
Jurisdiction: SummersetCity of Summerset, incorporated July 2005Colonial Pine HillsUnincorporated. There is no city government. Pennington County zones the lots, issues the permits and patrols the roads.
Corridor: SummersetI-90Colonial Pine HillsUS 16 and Sheridan Lake Road
To downtown Rapid City: Summerset15 min, 10.0 miColonial Pine HillsRoughly 6 miles northeast
To Ellsworth AFB: Summerset30 min, 19.2 miColonial Pine HillsAbout 25 to 30 minutes, through or around Rapid City
Winter driving: SummersetThe commute is I-90, so winter driving here is interstate driving rather than a two lane canyon road.Colonial Pine HillsYou are 900 feet above Rapid City on grades, and some subdivision roads are privately plowed. Snow tires are not a luxury item up here.

Side by side

Summerset, Colonial Pine Hills

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 corridorSummerset	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorColonial Pine Hills
Where it sits
Region	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Countydiffers	Meade County	Pennington County
JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.	City of Summerset, incorporated July 2005	Unincorporated. There is no city government. Pennington County zones the lots, issues the permits and patrols the roads.
Corridordiffers	I-90	US 16 and Sheridan Lake Road
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers	15 min, 10.0 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	Roughly 6 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers	30 min, 19.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 25 to 30 minutes, through or around Rapid CityDriving time and distance, off peak.
Winter drivingdiffers	The commute is I-90, so winter driving here is interstate driving rather than a two lane canyon road.	You are 900 feet above Rapid City on grades, and some subdivision roads are privately plowed. Snow tires are not a luxury item up here.
Housing and lots
Typical pricediffers	Builder inventory sets the level here, and the MLS publishes no Summerset median on its own.	About $683,000 average sold in the Sheridan Lake Road MLS area, 71 sales over 12 monthsAverage sold $682,615. Black Hills MLS, single family, 12 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 71 closed sales.
Housing agediffers	Mostly 2000s to present	Platted over several decades, so 1970s cabins and current builds sit on the same road.
New construction	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Acreagediffers	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.	Acreage parcels are common here
Typical lotdiffers	Wide lots on new streets	Large by Rapid City standards, from generous lots to several acres.
Covenants and HOACovenants are recorded per plat. The title commitment lists what binds the parcel.	Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others	Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers	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.	Mostly private well and septic
Waterdiffers	Black Hawk Water User District, or Diamond D Water in Sun Valley	Depends entirely on the parcel. The Colonial Pine Hills Sanitary District serves roughly 430 connections. Several separate water associations serve other pockets, and the rest of the area is on private wells.
Sewerdiffers	City of Summerset	Private on-site septic throughout, permitted by Pennington County. There is no municipal sewer and no lagoon serving the area.
Short term rentalsdiffers	The thinnest rules on this list, which means a rental plan has to be pinned down for the specific address.	This is unincorporated county, so there is no municipal short-term rental ordinance. County zoning and subdivision covenants are what govern, and the covenants out here are often stricter than the county.
Schools
School districtdiffers	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.	Rapid City Area School District 51-4Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Daily errands
Groceriesdiffers	Not recorded in this guide. Check what is open near the address.	Everything is in Rapid City, roughly fifteen minutes down US 16.
Healthcarediffers	Hospital-level care is in Rapid City, about 15 minutes south.	No clinic up here. Monument Health Rapid City Hospital and the Rapid City clinics are the answer.
Recreationdiffers	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.	Sheridan Lake, Pactola, the Mickelson Trail and the whole central Hills network start where the subdivisions end.
Mapped subdivisions
Outlines on filediffers	2 mapped outlines, 2 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.
The trade
Housing and patterndiffers	New streets and builder inventory, with Highlands at Norman Ranch adding over 100 first phase homesites across more than 300 acres.	Ponderosa pine subdivisions platted over decades, no two alike, on county rules six miles from the city.
What you gaindiffers	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.	Hills elevation, trees and lot size with a Rapid City commute and Rapid City schools.
What you give updiffers	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.	Well or association water, septic on every parcel, private roads in places, and wildfire exposure that affects insurance.

Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorSummerset
Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorColonial Pine Hills

Where it sits

Region

Summerset: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Colonial Pine Hills: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor

Countydiffers

Summerset: Meade County
Colonial Pine Hills: Pennington County

Jurisdictiondiffers

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

Summerset: City of Summerset, incorporated July 2005
Colonial Pine Hills: Unincorporated. There is no city government. Pennington County zones the lots, issues the permits and patrols the roads.

Corridordiffers

Summerset: I-90
Colonial Pine Hills: US 16 and Sheridan Lake Road

To downtown Rapid Citydiffers

Summerset: 15 min, 10.0 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Colonial Pine Hills: Roughly 6 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.

To Ellsworth AFBdiffers

Summerset: 30 min, 19.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Colonial Pine Hills: About 25 to 30 minutes, through or around Rapid CityDriving time and distance, off peak.

Winter drivingdiffers

Summerset: The commute is I-90, so winter driving here is interstate driving rather than a two lane canyon road.
Colonial Pine Hills: You are 900 feet above Rapid City on grades, and some subdivision roads are privately plowed. Snow tires are not a luxury item up here.

Housing and lots

Typical pricediffers

Summerset: Builder inventory sets the level here, and the MLS publishes no Summerset median on its own.
Colonial Pine Hills: About $683,000 average sold in the Sheridan Lake Road MLS area, 71 sales over 12 monthsAverage sold $682,615. Black Hills MLS, single family, 12 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 71 closed sales.

Housing agediffers

Summerset: Mostly 2000s to present
Colonial Pine Hills: Platted over several decades, so 1970s cabins and current builds sit on the same road.

New construction

Summerset: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Colonial Pine Hills: Limited, mostly infill and small projects

Acreagediffers

Summerset: Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.
Colonial Pine Hills: Acreage parcels are common here

Typical lotdiffers

Summerset: Wide lots on new streets
Colonial Pine Hills: Large by Rapid City standards, from generous lots to several acres.

Covenants and HOA

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

Summerset: Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others
Colonial Pine Hills: Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others

Utilities and rules

Utility patterndiffers

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.
Colonial Pine Hills: Mostly private well and septic

Waterdiffers

Summerset: Black Hawk Water User District, or Diamond D Water in Sun Valley
Colonial Pine Hills: Depends entirely on the parcel. The Colonial Pine Hills Sanitary District serves roughly 430 connections. Several separate water associations serve other pockets, and the rest of the area is on private wells.

Sewerdiffers

Summerset: City of Summerset
Colonial Pine Hills: Private on-site septic throughout, permitted by Pennington County. There is no municipal sewer and no lagoon serving the area.

Short term rentalsdiffers

Summerset: The thinnest rules on this list, which means a rental plan has to be pinned down for the specific address.
Colonial Pine Hills: This is unincorporated county, so there is no municipal short-term rental ordinance. County zoning and subdivision covenants are what govern, and the covenants out here are often stricter than the county.

Schools

School districtdiffers

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.
Colonial Pine Hills: Rapid City Area School District 51-4Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.

Daily errands

Groceriesdiffers

Summerset: Not recorded in this guide. Check what is open near the address.
Colonial Pine Hills: Everything is in Rapid City, roughly fifteen minutes down US 16.

Healthcarediffers

Summerset: Hospital-level care is in Rapid City, about 15 minutes south.
Colonial Pine Hills: No clinic up here. Monument Health Rapid City Hospital and the Rapid City clinics are the answer.

Recreationdiffers

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.
Colonial Pine Hills: Sheridan Lake, Pactola, the Mickelson Trail and the whole central Hills network start where the subdivisions end.

Mapped subdivisions

Outlines on filediffers

Summerset: 2 mapped outlines, 2 with a full guideReference outlines from county and city GIS, not surveys. The recorded plat controls.
Colonial Pine Hills: No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.

The trade

Housing and patterndiffers

Summerset: New streets and builder inventory, with Highlands at Norman Ranch adding over 100 first phase homesites across more than 300 acres.
Colonial Pine Hills: Ponderosa pine subdivisions platted over decades, no two alike, on county rules six miles from the city.

What you gaindiffers

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.
Colonial Pine Hills: Hills elevation, trees and lot size with a Rapid City commute and Rapid City schools.

What you give updiffers

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.
Colonial Pine Hills: Well or association water, septic on every parcel, private roads in places, and wildfire exposure that affects insurance.

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.

Call 605-490-2040 Text 605-490-2040 Send a Message

Address Questions

Considering a home here?

Send the address and we can talk it through. The details that change from one property to the next are jurisdiction, water and sewer, the school the district assigns, covenants, road maintenance and the rest of what never shows up on a listing.

Or send a message from the contact page

ComparingSummerset, Colonial Pine Hills

Compare Clear