Living in Rapid City, SD
Rapid City is a mid-size city of 77,946 people in Pennington County, South Dakota. It's part of the Rapid City, SD area. Summer highs average 84°F and winter highs 37°F, with about 53 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $299k and rent runs about $1k a month.
77,946people
$299kTypical home
$1,109/moRent
84° / 37°Summer / winter
53"Snow
251Sunny days
103Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Mid-size city of 77,946
- Part of a metro area
- About 1,392 people per sq mi
- 310 mi to Denver, CO
- In the Rapid City, SD area
- Has its own stores and services
Money
- Typical home $299k (≈$1,888/mo)
- Median rent $1,109/mo
- Median household income $71k
- Property tax about 1.1% of value
- 3.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 84°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
- 103 days a year with rain or snow
- 53" of snow a year
- 16 days a year with 1"+ of snow
- 2 days a year over 100°F
- 34 nights a year below 10°F
- Breezy
Safety
- High violent crime (766 per 100k)
- High property crime (3,620 per 100k)
People
- Median age 39
- 25% of households have kids
- 21% are 65 or older
- 37% have a college degree
- Mixed community
- 6% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 19 min
- 2% walk or take transit to work
- 8 mi to RAP airport
- 300 mi to DEN (major hub)
- 266 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 65% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1979
- 90% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Hilly terrain
- Elevation 3,307 ft
- 947 mi to the ocean
- 108 mi to a big lake
- 18 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 17 mi to the nearest ski area
- Campground in town
- 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
- 13 museums within 25 mi
- 4 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- Farmers market in town
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 29% of South Dakota districts (reading)
- Grocery store in town
- 4 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 44 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- Vet in town
- 3 mi to the nearest dog park
- 8 congregations per 10k people
- College in town
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