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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10 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.

Colonial Pine Hills
Typical price
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.
To Ellsworth AFB
About 25 to 30 minutes, through or around Rapid CityDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
Roughly 6 miles northeastDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
Utility pattern
Mostly private well and septic
School district
Rapid City Area School District 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.

Sturgis
Typical price
$300k to $450kMedian sold $365,000. Mount Rushmore Area MLS, all residential, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 97 closed sales.
To Ellsworth AFB
48 min, 38.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
33 min, 28.9 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Utility pattern
Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify water and sewer service for the address.
School district
Meade School District 46-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
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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.

Custer
Typical price
Median sold $627,000Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 7 closed sales, small sample.
To Ellsworth AFB
About an hour and ten minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
About 50 to 60 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Utility pattern
Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
School district
Custer School District 16-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
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Edgemont
Typical price
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.
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.
Compare Guide
Hermosa
Typical price
About $650,000 average sold, 28 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $648,229. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 28 closed sales.
To Ellsworth AFB
About 35 minutes, north through Rapid City to I-90Driving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
26 min, 18.6 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Utility pattern
Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
School district
Custer School District 16-1Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Compare Guide
Hill City
Typical price
Median sold $519,000Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 13 closed sales.
To Ellsworth AFB
About 45 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
About 30 to 35 minutes on US-16Driving time and distance, off peak.
Utility pattern
Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify water and sewer service for the address.
School district
Hill City School District 51-2Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Compare Guide
Hot Springs
Typical price
Median sold $315,150Black Hills MLS, single family, trailing 12 months, as of August 2026. 24 closed sales.
To Ellsworth AFB
About an hour and fifteen minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
About 60 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
Utility pattern
Not recorded townwide in this guide. Verify water and sewer service for the address.
School district
Hot Springs School District 23-2Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Compare Guide
Keystone
Typical price
About $618,000 average sold, but only 9 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $618,449. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 9 closed sales, small sample.
To Ellsworth AFB
About 40 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
To downtown Rapid City
About 25 minutes northeastDriving time and distance, off peak.
Utility pattern
Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
School district
Hill City School District 51-2Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Compare 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.

New Underwood
Typical price
About $320,000 average sold, 20 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $319,585. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 20 closed sales.
To Ellsworth AFB
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.
To downtown Rapid City
About 18 miles west on I-90Distance 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
New Underwood School District 51-3Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Compare Guide
Wall
Typical price
About $270,000 average sold, 19 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $270,435. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 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.
Selected Guide

What changes

Between Wall, Summerset, Newell

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

Region: WallPrairie and BadlandsSummersetRapid City and the Ellsworth corridorNewellNorthern Hills and I-90
County: WallPennington CountySummersetMeade CountyNewellButte County
Jurisdiction: WallIncorporated town of Wall, with Pennington County outside the limits.SummersetCity of Summerset, incorporated July 2005NewellIncorporated municipality of Newell, with Butte County outside the limits.
Corridor: WallI-90 exits 109 and 110SummersetI-90NewellUS 212 and SD 79
To downtown Rapid City: WallAbout 50 miles west on I-90Summerset15 min, 10.0 miNewellAbout 54 miles, roughly 70 minutes
To Ellsworth AFB: WallAbout 43 miles westSummerset30 min, 19.2 miNewellAbout 60 miles

Side by side

Wall, Summerset, Newell

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 BadlandsWall	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorSummerset	Northern Hills and I-90Newell
Where it sits
Regiondiffers	Prairie and Badlands	Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor	Northern Hills and I-90
Countydiffers	Pennington County	Meade County	Butte County
JurisdictiondiffersCity versus county decides who provides service and who inspects the work.	Incorporated town of Wall, with Pennington County outside the limits.	City of Summerset, incorporated July 2005	Incorporated municipality of Newell, with Butte County outside the limits.
Corridordiffers	I-90 exits 109 and 110	I-90	US 212 and SD 79
To downtown Rapid Citydiffers	About 50 miles west on I-90Distance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.	15 min, 10.0 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 54 miles, roughly 70 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.
To Ellsworth AFBdiffers	About 43 miles westDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.	30 min, 19.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.	About 60 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
Winter drivingdiffers	I-90 is the lifeline and it is state maintained, but this is open prairie and I-90 does close in a ground blizzard. Plan for that a few times a winter.	The commute is I-90, so winter driving here is interstate driving rather than a two lane canyon road.	US 212 and SD 79 are state maintained, and the state rebuilt the Nisland to Newell stretch and the south junction in 2025. Off the highway it is open country and wind moves snow.
Housing and lots
Typical pricediffers	About $270,000 average sold, 19 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $270,435. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 19 closed sales.	Builder inventory sets the level here, and the MLS publishes no Summerset median on its own.	No figure published. Newell is Mount Rushmore Area MLS territory and the current feed covers only the Black Hills MLS, so any count from that feed is a floor rather than this town's price level.
Housing agediffers	Older stock through town, with a municipal demolition incentive program in place for blighted property.	Mostly 2000s to present	A 1910 townsite, so genuinely old in-town stock with newer building scattered around it.
New construction	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	Limited, mostly infill and small projects	Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Acreagediffers	Acreage parcels are common here	Not recorded townwide in this guide. The recorded plat carries the lot size.	Acreage parcels are common here
Typical lotdiffers	Platted town lots, and then it jumps straight to ranch scale.	Wide lots on new streets	Small townsite lots, then irrigated project acreage, then rangeland, in that order as you drive out.
Covenants and HOAdiffersCovenants are recorded per plat. The title commitment lists what binds the parcel.	Few plats here carry recorded covenants	Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others	Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Utilities and rules
Utility patterndiffers	City water and sewer inside the limits	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.	Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it
Waterdiffers	Town of Wall municipal water inside the limits. Rural parcels are on private wells.	Black Hawk Water User District, or Diamond D Water in Sun Valley	Town of Newell municipal water inside the limits, from groundwater, serving about 378 connections. Rural properties are on the Butte-Meade Sanitary Water District or on private wells. Irrigation water from the Belle Fourche Irrigation District is an entirely separate thing from domestic water.
Sewerdiffers	Town sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.	City of Summerset	Municipal sewer inside the limits, billed monthly alongside water. Rural parcels are on private septic.
Short term rentalsdiffers	This is genuine seasonal tourism territory at a national park gate. Confirm any town requirement, and note that Wall Drug houses many of its own seasonal workers, which removes demand from the local rental market.	The thinnest rules on this list, which means a rental plan has to be pinned down for the specific address.	Newell is an agricultural town rather than a tourism town. Short-term rental demand here is hunting season, Rally week and ag events, not year-round visitors.
Schools
School districtdiffers	Wall School District 51-5Assignment 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.	Newell School District 09-2Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.
Daily errands
Groceriesdiffers	The Wall Food Center on South Boulevard West.	Not recorded in this guide. Check what is open near the address.	A grocery store and a hardware store in town, with Belle Fourche about 25 miles for anything larger.
Healthcarediffers	The Monument Health Wall Clinic on 7th Avenue is in town. The nearest hospital is Monument Health Rapid City, roughly 50 miles west.	Hospital-level care is in Rapid City, about 15 minutes south.	No hospital or clinic in Newell. Sturgis is about 26 miles, Spearfish about 37, and Monument Health has a clinic in Belle Fourche.
Recreationdiffers	Badlands National Park about seven miles south, Buffalo Gap National Grassland all around, the National Grasslands Visitor Center on Main Street and the Wall rodeo arena.	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.	A nine-hole golf course, the Newell Museum, the Belle Fourche Reservoir north of town, and hunting in every direction.
Mapped subdivisions
Outlines on filediffers	No recorded subdivision outlines drawn for this community yet.	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	A complete small prairie town with its own school, clinic and grocery, at the northern gate to the Badlands.	New streets and builder inventory, with Highlands at Norman Ranch adding over 100 first phase homesites across more than 300 acres.	A federal reclamation townsite from 1910 at the center of a 57,000 acre irrigation project, with a sale barn and its own school.
What you gaindiffers	Everything a town needs in one place, 50 miles from the city, at prairie prices.	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.	A complete small town with its own K through 12 school and irrigated ground around it, at prices the Hills corridor cannot touch.
What you give updiffers	Fifty miles to a hospital and to real shopping, and an economy that runs on a three month season.	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.	Seventy minutes to Rapid City, 26 miles to a hospital, and an irrigation district assessment that attaches to the land as a lien.

Prairie and BadlandsWall
Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridorSummerset
Northern Hills and I-90Newell

Where it sits

Regiondiffers

Wall: Prairie and Badlands
Summerset: Rapid City and the Ellsworth corridor
Newell: Northern Hills and I-90

Countydiffers

Wall: Pennington County
Summerset: Meade County
Newell: Butte County

Jurisdictiondiffers

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

Wall: Incorporated town of Wall, with Pennington County outside the limits.
Summerset: City of Summerset, incorporated July 2005
Newell: Incorporated municipality of Newell, with Butte County outside the limits.

Corridordiffers

Wall: I-90 exits 109 and 110
Summerset: I-90
Newell: US 212 and SD 79

To downtown Rapid Citydiffers

Wall: About 50 miles west on I-90Distance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
Summerset: 15 min, 10.0 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Newell: About 54 miles, roughly 70 minutesDriving time and distance, off peak.

To Ellsworth AFBdiffers

Wall: About 43 miles westDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.
Summerset: 30 min, 19.2 miDriving time and distance, off peak.
Newell: About 60 milesDistance only. Drive time is not measured for this community, so time it from the parcel.

Winter drivingdiffers

Wall: I-90 is the lifeline and it is state maintained, but this is open prairie and I-90 does close in a ground blizzard. Plan for that a few times a winter.
Summerset: The commute is I-90, so winter driving here is interstate driving rather than a two lane canyon road.
Newell: US 212 and SD 79 are state maintained, and the state rebuilt the Nisland to Newell stretch and the south junction in 2025. Off the highway it is open country and wind moves snow.

Housing and lots

Typical pricediffers

Wall: About $270,000 average sold, 19 sales over 24 monthsAverage sold $270,435. Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026. 19 closed sales.
Summerset: Builder inventory sets the level here, and the MLS publishes no Summerset median on its own.
Newell: No figure published. Newell is Mount Rushmore Area MLS territory and the current feed covers only the Black Hills MLS, so any count from that feed is a floor rather than this town's price level.

Housing agediffers

Wall: Older stock through town, with a municipal demolition incentive program in place for blighted property.
Summerset: Mostly 2000s to present
Newell: A 1910 townsite, so genuinely old in-town stock with newer building scattered around it.

New construction

Wall: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Summerset: Limited, mostly infill and small projects
Newell: Limited, mostly infill and small projects

Acreagediffers

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

Typical lotdiffers

Wall: Platted town lots, and then it jumps straight to ranch scale.
Summerset: Wide lots on new streets
Newell: Small townsite lots, then irrigated project acreage, then rangeland, in that order as you drive out.

Covenants and HOAdiffers

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

Wall: Few plats here carry recorded covenants
Summerset: Recorded covenants on some plats, none on others
Newell: Few plats here carry recorded covenants

Utilities and rules

Utility patterndiffers

Wall: City water and sewer inside the limits
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.
Newell: Mixed, municipal service in town with well and septic outside it

Waterdiffers

Wall: Town of Wall municipal water inside the limits. Rural parcels are on private wells.
Summerset: Black Hawk Water User District, or Diamond D Water in Sun Valley
Newell: Town of Newell municipal water inside the limits, from groundwater, serving about 378 connections. Rural properties are on the Butte-Meade Sanitary Water District or on private wells. Irrigation water from the Belle Fourche Irrigation District is an entirely separate thing from domestic water.

Sewerdiffers

Wall: Town sewer inside the limits, with private septic on rural parcels.
Summerset: City of Summerset
Newell: Municipal sewer inside the limits, billed monthly alongside water. Rural parcels are on private septic.

Short term rentalsdiffers

Wall: This is genuine seasonal tourism territory at a national park gate. Confirm any town requirement, and note that Wall Drug houses many of its own seasonal workers, which removes demand from the local rental market.
Summerset: The thinnest rules on this list, which means a rental plan has to be pinned down for the specific address.
Newell: Newell is an agricultural town rather than a tourism town. Short-term rental demand here is hunting season, Rally week and ag events, not year-round visitors.

Schools

School districtdiffers

Wall: Wall School District 51-5Assignment 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.
Newell: Newell School District 09-2Assignment follows the official boundary for the address. Confirm with the district.

Daily errands

Groceriesdiffers

Wall: The Wall Food Center on South Boulevard West.
Summerset: Not recorded in this guide. Check what is open near the address.
Newell: A grocery store and a hardware store in town, with Belle Fourche about 25 miles for anything larger.

Healthcarediffers

Wall: The Monument Health Wall Clinic on 7th Avenue is in town. The nearest hospital is Monument Health Rapid City, roughly 50 miles west.
Summerset: Hospital-level care is in Rapid City, about 15 minutes south.
Newell: No hospital or clinic in Newell. Sturgis is about 26 miles, Spearfish about 37, and Monument Health has a clinic in Belle Fourche.

Recreationdiffers

Wall: Badlands National Park about seven miles south, Buffalo Gap National Grassland all around, the National Grasslands Visitor Center on Main Street and the Wall rodeo arena.
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.
Newell: A nine-hole golf course, the Newell Museum, the Belle Fourche Reservoir north of town, and hunting in every direction.

Mapped subdivisions

Outlines on filediffers

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

The trade

Housing and patterndiffers

Wall: A complete small prairie town with its own school, clinic and grocery, at the northern gate to the Badlands.
Summerset: New streets and builder inventory, with Highlands at Norman Ranch adding over 100 first phase homesites across more than 300 acres.
Newell: A federal reclamation townsite from 1910 at the center of a 57,000 acre irrigation project, with a sale barn and its own school.

What you gaindiffers

Wall: Everything a town needs in one place, 50 miles from the city, at prairie prices.
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.
Newell: A complete small town with its own K through 12 school and irrigated ground around it, at prices the Hills corridor cannot touch.

What you give updiffers

Wall: Fifty miles to a hospital and to real shopping, and an economy that runs on a three month season.
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.
Newell: Seventy minutes to Rapid City, 26 miles to a hospital, and an irrigation district assessment that attaches to the land as a lien.

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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ComparingWall, Summerset, Newell

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