Living in New Underwood
A town of 590 east of Rapid City that still runs its own K through 12 school, 18 miles from the city and 11 from the Ellsworth gate.
- Jurisdiction
- Incorporated city of New Underwood, with Pennington County outside the limits
- County
- Pennington County
- Utilities
- City of New Underwood water inside the limits, drawn from two Madison Aquifer wells. Outside the limits, parcels are on small water associations or private wells. City sewer inside the limits. Rural parcels are on private septic permitted by Pennington County.
- Population
- 590 at the 2020 census
- Drive To Rapid City
- About 18 miles west on Interstate 90
- To Ellsworth AFB
- About 11 miles, exit 78 to the main gate at exit 67A
- School District
- New Underwood School District 51-3, all three buildings in town
A prairie town with its own school, its own exit, and nobody bidding it up yet.
Facts checked August 2026
New Underwood is a town of 590 people that still runs its own elementary, middle and high school, 18 miles from Rapid City and one interstate exit from the shortest commute to Ellsworth in the region.
Why buyers choose New Underwood
- Its own elementary, middle and high school, all three in town, in a community of 590.
- Interstate access at exit 78, about 18 miles from Rapid City.
- Roughly 11 miles from the Ellsworth Air Force Base main gate.
- A price level that the Rapid City and Box Elder corridor has not reached yet.
Things to consider
- No full grocery store, no hardware store and no clinic in town.
- The city water system runs on two wells the mayor has publicly called at risk, and the city is pursuing a regional supply.
- No municipal police department. One county deputy is stationed in town.
- The published Ellsworth growth projections point at Box Elder and Douglas 51-1, not at New Underwood.
Why buyers choose New Underwood
Start with the school, because it is why most people end up here. New Underwood School District 51-3 runs an elementary, a middle school and a high school, and all three buildings are in town. A kid can start kindergarten and graduate without ever riding a bus to another community. Towns this size gave that up decades ago. This one did not.
Then look at the map. Exit 78 puts you 18 miles from Rapid City on interstate, not on a two-lane. Ellsworth Air Force Base's main gate is at exit 67A, which is roughly 11 miles back the other way. If your work is at the base, there is no closer place to live that has its own high school.
What is in town is honest about itself: BJ's Country Store at the interchange for fuel and groceries you forgot, two bars, a post office, a city hall with a food pantry in it, and a municipal pool that runs a donor-funded free swim program. Until 2017 the town also had what was billed as the world's smallest biker bar, which tells you something about how New Underwood has always handled being on the way to somewhere else.
The water question, which you should ask
The city runs its own water system on two wells into the Madison Aquifer. The mayor has said publicly that those wells are always at risk of failing, and the city has joined a regional group pushing for a Missouri River pipeline to the western half of the state. No scandal in that, and no reason to avoid the town. It is a small municipal system doing what small municipal systems do, out loud, in the newspaper.
What it means for a buyer is straightforward. Ask the city about current rates, about capacity, and about whether there is any limit on new connections before you plan an addition or a build. Outside the city limits the answer changes entirely: there are a couple of small water associations in the area and otherwise it is a private well and an on-site septic system permitted by Pennington County.
One thing to be clear about: the West Dakota Water Development District shows up on Pennington County parcel records for essentially every parcel in the county. It is a planning and funding district, not a water utility, and it does not sell water to anyone. If you see it on a listing sheet as the water provider, that listing sheet is wrong.
Ellsworth, the B-21, and what it means here
Ellsworth is preparing to become the first base for the B-21 Raider, with the first aircraft planned to arrive in 2027 and construction underway now. The wing commander has publicly described more than 4,000 additional military personnel, families and civilian workers arriving at the base over roughly twenty years, taking base population toward 12,000.
Here is the part most people skip. The published projections put that growth into Box Elder and the Douglas school district, not into New Underwood. Nobody has published a housing demand forecast for this town, and inventing one would not help you. What is true is simpler and still useful: New Underwood is 11 miles from the gate, it has its own school, and it has not been bid up. Draw your own conclusion about what that combination usually does.
What homes cost here
Twenty single family homes sold in New Underwood in the two years through August 2026, at an average sold price of $319,585. Over the most recent twelve months of that the average was $262,322 across nine sales, so the trend has been down, though at these sample sizes I would not build a theory on it.
The number that says more about this market is one. That is how many active single family listings there were in New Underwood when I pulled this, against four more under contract. Homes here also move faster than anywhere else in this guide, at an average of 72 days on market.
When something comes up here it does not sit long, so if this is the town you want, the useful thing is to be ready rather than to be watching.
Living here day to day
- Groceries
- BJ's Country Store at the exit 78 interchange for fuel and convenience. Full grocery shopping is Rapid City, about 18 miles west.
- Eating out
- The Corner Bar and Moe's Bar and Grill.
- Healthcare
- No clinic in town. The Monument Health Rapid Valley Clinic on Elderberry Boulevard has walk-in urgent care seven days a week, and the hospital is in Rapid City.
- Highway access
- Interstate 90 at exit 78.
- Recreation
- The municipal pool, with a donor-funded free swim program, and open prairie in every direction.
- Work
- The school district and the city are the in-town employers. Most working residents commute to Rapid City or Ellsworth Air Force Base.
How far to things
- Downtown Rapid City
- About 18 miles west on I-90
- Nearest hospital
- Monument Health Rapid City Hospital
No clinic in New Underwood. The nearest walk-in care is the Monument Health Rapid Valley Clinic on Elderberry Boulevard, open seven days a week.
Typical driving time with clear roads.
What to check before you write an offer
On any address you are serious about, buyer due diligence should include the school assignment from the district, the water quality report from the utility that serves it, and the assessed value and levy from the county. Here are the sources for each one.
The sources, by category
Schools
Confirm the assigned school for a specific address with the district, because boundaries change and they change more often than people expect. Rapid City Area Schools boundary maps · Douglas School District 51-1 · Meade School District 46-1 · Spearfish School District 40-2 · School and district profiles on GreatSchools · Preschools and private schools in the Black Hills
Drinking water
Every public water system publishes an annual water quality report. Read the one for the system that serves the address you are considering, not the one for the town next door. Rapid City water quality reports · City of Box Elder Water Division · City of Spearfish water · EPA drinking water lookup
Property taxes and assessed value
Pennington County Equalization · Meade County Equalization · Lawrence County Equalization
The county record, the plat and the recorded covenants are the three documents to read on any address here. I do not rate schools and I do not characterize neighborhoods as safe or unsafe. Those readings are yours to make from the sources above.
See what's for sale now
These open my search site, where the listings update from the MLS through the day. This page is the background; that one is the inventory.
What the record shows
Closed sales and county valuations for New Underwood, with the source and the date on every figure.
EvidenceThe county record, in detailParcel counts, recorded prices and what each figure comes from for New Underwood.
What the numbers say in New Underwood
- Closed Sales
- 20
- Average Sold
- $319,585
- Active Listings
- 1
Source: Black Hills MLS, single family, 24 months through August 2026, as of August 2026.
Single family only. Average sold price, not a median.
The MLS figures on this site are average sold prices, not medians and not assessed values. They cover single family homes only, so land, manufactured homes on their own lots and condominiums are left out. The MLS records one city per listing, and rural property is often filed under a nearby larger town, so a small town count can miss sales that happened in the area.
Can you rent it out?
New Underwood is a highway town rather than a tourism town, and no short-term rental ordinance surfaced in the public record. Confirm with the city before you count on rental income.
The rules in detail
- No short-term rental ordinance surfaced for New Underwood. Silence is not permission, so call city hall before you buy on the strength of it.
- Renting 10 or more days a year requires a South Dakota sales tax license, and state lodging licensure applies.
- The statewide 4.2 percent sales tax and 1.5 percent tourism tax apply, plus any municipal tax.
- Rally week and Ellsworth-related short-term demand are the realistic drivers here, not year-round tourism.
Short-term rental rules change, and they change fast. This summary reflects my research as of August 2026 and is general information, not legal advice. If rental income is part of why you are buying, verify the current requirements with the city or county that has jurisdiction over the specific address, and read the subdivision covenants, before you write an offer.
Schools
New Underwood School District 51-3 runs an elementary, a middle school and a high school, and all three are in town.
School by school
- New Underwood Elementary, New Underwood Middle School and New Underwood High School are all physically in New Underwood.
- The district office is at 300 East Ash Street in town.
- Ellsworth Air Force Base and Box Elder belong to Douglas School District 51-1, not to New Underwood 51-3. Do not assume one from the other.
- Confirm attendance for the exact parcel with the district before making a school-driven decision.
I provide objective school information consistently and do not personally rate or recommend schools. Attendance boundaries can cross city and county lines, and the district's current assignment for the exact address controls. Verify directly with the district before making a school-driven decision.
Eating, and what people do
Where to eat
Two bars and a country store, and Rapid City 18 miles west:
What people do
What an ordinary week here holds:
- The municipal pool and its donor-funded free swim program
- School sports at the New Underwood campus, which is most of the winter social calendar
- Coffee and the counter at BJ's Country Store
- Prairie and grassland hunting east and south of town
- The Badlands, about an hour east, for a Sunday drive that never gets old
Common questions
Does New Underwood have its own high school?
Yes. New Underwood School District 51-3 runs an elementary, a middle school and a high school, and all three buildings are in town. For a community of 590 people that is unusual, and it is the single biggest reason buyers look here.
How close is New Underwood to Ellsworth Air Force Base?
The town is at I-90 exit 78 and the base's main gate is at exit 67A, so roughly 11 miles of interstate. It is one of the shortest base commutes available from a town that has its own school district.
Will the B-21 arriving at Ellsworth drive up prices in New Underwood?
Nobody has published a forecast that says so, and I am not going to make one up. What is on the record is that Ellsworth expects more than 4,000 additional personnel and workers over about twenty years, and that the published projections route that growth into Box Elder and the Douglas school district. New Underwood is 11 miles further east with its own school and a lower price level, which is a reasonable thing to weigh, but it is a judgment call rather than a published forecast.
Is New Underwood on city water?
Inside the city limits, yes. The city runs its own system on two wells into the Madison Aquifer, and it has publicly joined a regional effort pushing for a Missouri River pipeline because those wells are a known risk. Outside the limits you are on a small water association or your own well, with an on-site septic system permitted by Pennington County. If a listing sheet names West Dakota Water District as the provider, that is wrong: it is a planning district, not a utility.
Also compare
Look here instead if the base doorstep, new construction and city services are worth a higher price level.
Rapid CityMakes sense if the grocery store, the clinic and the hardware store need to be in your own town.
WallWorth comparing if you like the small prairie town with its own school and want to see what the same idea looks like 30 miles further east.
Still sorting the towns out? Compare every community side by side on price, commute, utilities and what each one costs you.
Keep reading on New Underwood
Where incoming airmen search, how the VA loan works in this market, and the timeline that makes a PCS move into the Black Hills go smoothly.
Eight small towns around the Black Hills with real character, real landmarks and easier price points than Rapid City or Spearfish.
Water, waste, and legal access decide whether a rural property is a good buy. Here is the homework I do on every acreage transaction.
My free buyer's guide, written for wells, septic, hail history and PCS timelines in this region.
Price, down payment, rate, taxes, insurance and HOA in one number.
Hospitals, VA care and specialty services across the region, town by town.
Lakes, trails, skiing, parks, pools, food, shopping and recreation across the region.
New to the Black Hills? Start with the questions people ask.
A lot in town and ground outside the limits are two different conversations. Decide which one you are having, because the closings differ, and ask the city directly about water and sewer capacity at that address.
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.
Talk to Henry
Call or text 605-490-2040 and we can talk through what is realistic in New Underwood right now, including what has closed. Every active listing in the area is on my search site.
Last updated August 2026
This guide is general information, not legal, tax, lending or financial advice. Facts and figures are cited from public sources as of August 2026 and change over time. Henry Roy is a licensed real estate professional with Ascend Realty in South Dakota. Equal Housing Opportunity.