Ashland HeightsSD
A town of 1,105.
Is Ashland Heights a good place to live?
The best of Ashland Heights’ subject grades is a B for cost of living; the weakest is a D for incomes. 31% of residents live below the poverty line in Ashland Heights, against 9.5% in South Dakota’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Only 3 of South Dakota’s 85 towns score higher on hazard risk. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 77% of U.S. towns. On history, just 1 of South Dakota’s 85 towns do worse. Ashland Heights has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
What makes Ashland Heights stand out
Where Ashland Heights beats most towns.
1,105 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Ashland Heights grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Dakota), ordered by how far Ashland Heights is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Ashland Heights: who provides what
Ashland Heights is unincorporated, so Pennington County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Ashland Heights.
About two in three of Ashland Heights’ working residents commute to Rapid City
Most working residents leave Ashland Heights for work: only 0% work in town. At 17 minutes, Ashland Heights’ average trip to work is where South Dakota’s towns sit at 17 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. The top destinations are Rapid City (69%), Sioux Falls (4%) and Spearfish (2%).
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Ashland Heights stands out in South Dakota and nationally, with the FEMA risk score lower than most
Ashland Heights’ FEMA risk score is 25 of 100.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In Ashland Heights, expect snowy winters and pleasant summers
Ashland Heights has cold, snowy winters and warm summers, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 14° and about 49 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
A larger share of adults smoke cigarettes in Ashland Heights than in most of South Dakota or the rest of the country
19% of Ashland Heights adults smoke cigarettes. Only 2 of the 36 South Dakota towns we compare have a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Ashland Heights. 27% of Ashland Heights adults get no exercise outside work.
| Ashland Heights | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 10% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 31% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 14% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Ashland Heights | SD |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 79.3% | 75.9% |
| More adults getting cholesterol checked | 86.9% | 84.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 9% | 6.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median home in Ashland Heights sells for about $290K
100% of households own their home in Ashland Heights.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Mount Rushmore National Memorial and 17 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Ashland Heights. Close and well known come first.
Big draw23 mi National MemorialMount Rushmore National Memorial1.9M visitors a year
Big draw32 mi LandmarkCrazy Horse Memorial
Big draw35 mi National ParkBadlands National Park1.1M visitors a year
27 mi MountainBlack Elk Peak
31 mi State parkCuster State Park
37 mi National ParkWind Cave National Park606K visitors a yearPhoto credits
Mount Rushmore National Memorial: Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Crazy Horse Memorial: Jeffreylcooke, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Badlands National Park: Martin Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Black Elk Peak: BHrock at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Custer State Park: Guimir, Public domain · Wind Cave National Park: USGS/USGov, Public domain
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Everything we know about Ashland Heights
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Ashland Heights
About 0 of every 100 Ashland Heights residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across South Dakota.
100% of working residents leave Ashland Heights for work
Where Ashland Heights’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Ashland Heights
CDP in South Dakota, United States
Ashland Heights is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 678 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 2.9 sq mi
- Elevation
- 3,166 ft
- Area code
- 605
Questions about Ashland Heights
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Ashland Heights, SD expensive?
The typical home is worth about $220,000, 31% below the South Dakota typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.