IntelliMoveTake the quiz →Living in Box Elder, SD
Box Elder is a big small town of 12,902 people in Pennington County, South Dakota. It's about 7 miles from Rapid City, SD and 314 miles from Denver, CO, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 86°F and winter highs 37°F, with about 48 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $302k and rent runs about $1k a month.
12,902people
$302kTypical home
$1,491/moRent
86° / 37°Summer / winter
48"Snow
251Sunny days
96Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Big small town of 12,902
- Part of a metro area
- About 870 people per sq mi
- 314 mi to Denver, CO
- 7 mi to Rapid City, SD
- Has its own stores and services
Money
- Typical home $302k (≈$1,905/mo)
- Median rent $1,491/mo
- Median household income $73k
- Property tax about 1.3% of value
- 5.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 86°F
- Winter highs around 37°F
- Comfortable summers (dew point 51°F)
- 251 sunny days a year (74 totally clear)
- 114 cloudy days a year
- 40 of 90 winter days are gray
- 96 days a year with rain or snow
- 48" of snow a year
- 15 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- 4 days a year over 100°F
- 39 nights a year below 10°F
- Breezy
Safety
- About average violent crime (360 per 100k)
- About average property crime (1,571 per 100k)
People
- Median age 29
- 42% of households have kids
- 8% are 65 or older
- 28% have a college degree
- Mixed community
- 8% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 21 min
- 3% walk or take transit to work
- 5 mi to RAP airport
- 305 mi to DEN (major hub)
- 270 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 63% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 2004
- 93% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Gently rolling terrain
- Elevation 3,038 ft
- 952 mi to the ocean
- 100 mi to a big lake
- 24 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 23 mi to the nearest ski area
- 6 mi to the nearest campground
- 8 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 99 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 23 bars within 25 mi
- 42 coffee shops within 25 mi
- 2 music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 10 museums within 25 mi
- 3 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 7 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 38% of South Dakota districts (reading)
- 2 mi to the nearest grocery store
- 6 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 48 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 6 mi to the nearest vet
- 2 mi to the nearest dog park
- 8 congregations per 10k people
- 7 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- Pennington County: R+26 in 2024
- South Dakota: R+29 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- Low tornado risk
- Moderate wildfire risk
- Very low earthquake risk
- Very low flood risk
- Moderate drought risk
- High winter storm risk
- Very low heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk