Ashland HeightsSD
Population 1,105: a town in South Dakota.
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
Half commute less than 7 miles. In Ashland Heights, the mean commuting time is 17 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
FEMA puts just over a third of Ashland Heights’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 18% to wildfires. Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in three quarters of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In Ashland Heights, expect snowy winters and pleasant summers
Expect July afternoons of 86° and January nights of 14°, with about 49 inches of snow 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
Only 2 of the 36 South Dakota towns we compare have a higher share of adults who report frequent physical distress than Ashland Heights. 33% of adults sleep under 7 hours locally. This South Dakota town does better than the South Dakota average on 2 of 26 CDC measures and worse on 11.
| 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 $80K
In Ashland Heights, 100% of households are owner-occupiers.
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.