Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY 4.0Even on the area’s higher pay, Box Elder costs more to live in than 88% of U.S. towns
Up 2.4% in a year, 15% above the South Dakota typical home.
Census 2020–24 home values, rents, tax bills and cost burden, measured against the median household income of the Rapid City, SD metro area ($75K). How TownRatings grades cost of living
The grade measures what housing costs against what households in the area earn. Box Elder’s area earns well above the typical U.S. town ($75K against $74K), but homes, rent and taxes here run higher still. Owners keep up better than renters: 22% of owners pay 30% or more of income for housing (typical U.S. town: 20%), against 43% of renters.
In dollars
- $367Ktypical home, 15% above the South Dakota typical homeZillow, September 2026
- $1,450a month for a two-bedroom, utilities includedHUD Fair Market Rent, 2026
- 89prices across the Rapid City metro, where the U.S. is 100 (housing 73)BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
In paychecks the grade
- 4.0 yrsof area income buys the typical home; the typical U.S. town: 3.3$75K, Rapid City-area income
- 24%of area income goes to the median rent; the typical U.S. town: 18%Census 2020–24
- 43%of renters pay 30%+ of income for housing; across South Dakota: 40%Census 2020–24
- 22%of owners do; the typical U.S. town: 20%Census 2020–24
The short version on homes in Box Elder
Mostly newer homes
Half of Box Elder’s homes were built after 2004, against 1980 for South Dakota as a whole. Property taxes ↓
About half of Box Elder rents
52% of households rent their home, 2,258 in all, against 31% across South Dakota. Renting ↓
Homes haven’t kept up with new residents
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Box Elder gained 3,946 residents while 964 new homes were permitted: about 4.1 new residents per new home, against 1.6 across South Dakota. New homes ↓
A burst of building in 2022
Box Elder permitted 590 new homes in 2022, 88% of them in buildings with two or more homes, against about 108 in a typical year of the past decade. 2025 came in at 75. New homes ↓
A median income goes further next door
At Box Elder’s median income, the calculator’s budget of about $268K falls short here but covers the typical home in Ashland Heights ($220K) and Rapid Valley ($256K). Can I afford it? ↓
Written from the data on this page. Home values are the Zillow Home Value Index, through September 2026; sales and supply are Redfin’s for September 2026; permits are Census figures through 2025; incomes, rents paid, taxes and ownership come from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Box Elder’s grade
Measured against what households in the area earn, Box Elder is more affordable than 12% of U.S. towns, last of 35 in South Dakota. Rent pulls the grade down most; home prices hold it up.
Prices here have kept pace with South Dakota: up 26.0% in five years, against 23.4% statewide (Zillow).
Up 26% in five years
About the same pace as South Dakota (23.4%).
Show as a table
| January | Box Elder | South Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | $201,000 | $183,000 |
| 2018 | $211,000 | $192,000 |
| 2019 | $219,000 | $201,000 |
| 2020 | $233,000 | $212,000 |
| 2021 | $256,000 | $232,000 |
| 2022 | $311,000 | $269,000 |
| 2023 | $339,000 | $293,000 |
| 2024 | $346,000 | $297,000 |
| 2025 | $356,000 | $308,000 |
| 2026 | $366,000 | $316,000 |
| September 2026 | $367,000 | $318,000 |
A typical Box Elder home worth $198K in October 2016 is worth about $367K today.
Zillow Home Value Index: the typical value of all homes (middle third), smoothed and seasonally adjusted, through September 2026.
Too few sales to read the market
Only 13 homes sold in September 2026, the latest month in Redfin’s figures: too few to describe the market or quote a median sale price.
A year’s rent takes 24% of area income
The calculator starts from the area income the grade uses. Switch to Box Elder’s own median, or type yours.
That’s $92K short of a typical Box Elder home.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,450 a month here, $880 less than owning.
An estimate, not a loan offer: payments of up to 28% of income, a 30-year fixed loan, Box Elder’s typical property tax (1.33% of value a year, from the Census) and insurance of about 0.35%. Mortgage insurance, HOA fees and other debts aren’t included.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,450
Renters already here pay a median of $1,491.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (Rapid City, SD HUD Metro FMR Area): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
75 new homes permitted in 2025
Builders were permitted 75 new homes in Box Elder in 2025, all single-family houses, worth about $20.3 million to build. That's 5.8 per 1,000 residents, about the pace of South Dakota as a whole. Over the past 10 years, Box Elder has permitted 1,564 homes in all.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Box Elder gained 3,946 residents while 964 new homes were permitted: about 4.1 new residents per new home. Population grew faster than building, so existing homes filled up: a sign of tight supply. Across South Dakota: 1.6 new residents per new home.
Every year as a table
| Year | New homes | Single-family | 2+ per building | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Aug) | 46 | 46 | 0 | $13.4 million |
| 2025 | 75 | 75 | 0 | $20.3 million |
| 2024 | 106 | 106 | 0 | $27 million |
| 2023 | 123 | 85 | 38 | $25.6 million |
| 2022 | 590 | 71 | 519 | $79.5 million |
| 2021 | 102 | 43 | 59 | $14.2 million |
| 2020 | 157 | 100 | 57 | $24 million |
| 2019 | 153 | 72 | 81 | $19.6 million |
| 2018 | 80 | 60 | 20 | $10.5 million |
| 2017 | 114 | 92 | 22 | $19.3 million |
| 2016 | 64 | 34 | 30 | $8.2 million |
| 2015 | 22 | 22 | 0 | $3.9 million |
| 2014 | 42 | 42 | 0 | $5.8 million |
| 2013 | 61 | 61 | 0 | $7.7 million |
| 2012 | 96 | 96 | 0 | $11.6 million |
| 2011 | 73 | 73 | 0 | $8.5 million |
| 2010 | 259 | 65 | 194 | $20.5 million |
| 2009 | 74 | 64 | 10 | $7.9 million |
| 2008 | 69 | 69 | 0 | $7.7 million |
| 2007 | 101 | 101 | 0 | $10.9 million |
| 2006 | 72 | 69 | 3 | $7.3 million |
| 2005 | 51 | 51 | 0 | $6.4 million |
| 2004 | 70 | 70 | 0 | $7.1 million |
| 2003 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $185,000 |
| 2002 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $185,000 |
| 2001 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $185,000 |
| 2000 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $211,000 |
Homes authorized by building permits, counted in the year the permit was issued. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
Property tax runs above the South Dakota norm
The median bill is $4,019 (South Dakota: $2,724), 1.33% of a home’s value a year, against 1.06% statewide.
Census American Community Survey 2020–24: the median real-estate tax bill homeowners report, and that bill ÷ the median home value. Bills include town, school and county taxes. The Census reports bills over $10,000 only as “$10,000+”.
The rest of a budget near Box Elder
Only figures published free for the whole country, each labeled with the area it covers: the Rapid City, SD metro area, or South Dakota. Groceries follow the goods price level; nobody publishes them town by town.
| Cost | Here | Compared with | Area | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prices overall U.S. = 100 | 89 | SD 89 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Goods (groceries, clothing, cars…) U.S. = 100 | 95 | SD 95 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Utilities U.S. = 100 | 79 | SD 80 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
| Other services U.S. = 100 | 92 | SD 92 | metro | BEA, 2024 |
Price levels: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities 2024 (metro area and state). Electricity: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A.
Box Elder vs. its neighbors
Of the 2 towns here with a Zillow value, Box Elder has the 2nd-lowest. Rapid Valley and Ashland Heights have no Zillow value, so they are in the table only.
Cost next door · one source per column
| Town | Cost | Typical home Zillow, September 2026 | Median value Census 2020–24 | Tax rate bill ÷ value | 2-bed rent HUD 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Box Elder | D | $367K | $302K | 1.33% | $1,450 |
| Ashland Heights | B | — | $220K | 0.63% | $1,230 |
| Rapid City | C | $361K | $299K | 1.09% | $1,380 |
| Rapid Valley | B− | — | $256K | 1.02% | $1,700 |
“—” under Zillow: Zillow publishes no value for that town, so it’s left blank rather than mixed with Census figures.
Questions about the cost of living in Box Elder
Is Box Elder expensive to live in?
Measured against what households in the area earn, Box Elder costs more than 88% of U.S. towns: a D for cost of living. The typical home costs 4.0 years of the median household income of the Rapid City, SD metro area ($75K).
How much does a house cost in Box Elder?
About $367K, Zillow’s typical value for September 2026, up 2.4% in a year. The South Dakota typical home is $318K.
What salary do you need to live in Box Elder?
To buy the typical home with 20% down at 6.3%, about $100,000 a year, keeping the payment (about $2,330 a month with tax and insurance) at 28% of income. To rent a two-bedroom at 30% of income, about $58,000.
How much is rent in Box Elder?
HUD puts a two-bedroom at about $1,450 a month with utilities, the going rate for someone moving in. Renters already here pay a median of $1,491 (Census 2020–24).
What are property taxes in Box Elder?
The median bill is $4,019 a year, 1.33% of the median home value (South Dakota: $2,724, 1.06%), from the Census 2020–24.
Are home prices in Box Elder going up?
Yes: up 2.4% in the past year and 26.0% in five years, against 23.4% across South Dakota (Zillow).
Neighbors talk housing
What Box Elder buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research, September 2026. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center, September 2026. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. New homes: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey. Fair Market Rents: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The calculator is an estimate, not a loan offer. Regional price levels: BEA; electricity: EIA. How TownRatings grades cost of living.