Rapid ValleySD
Some 6,975 people live in this town, in South Dakota.
Is Rapid Valley a good place to live?
Few extremes here. Rapid Valley’s overall grade, B−, puts it better than 54% of U.S. towns. The ranking puts it 20th of 35 in South Dakota. Its best grade is for health: residents are healthier than 72% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Where it falls short is schools: its public schools trail 70% of South Dakota towns on state tests and graduation. At about $256K, a typical home costs 3.4 years of the Rapid City metro’s $75K median household income. On history, just 8 of South Dakota’s 85 towns do worse. On the outdoors, just 6 of South Dakota’s 85 towns do worse.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places · USGS PAD-US.
What makes Rapid Valley stand out
Where Rapid Valley beats most towns.
99% of working residents leave Rapid Valley for work
Where Rapid Valley’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Rapid Valley grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Dakota), ordered by how far Rapid Valley is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Rapid Valley: who provides what
Rapid Valley 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 Rapid Valley.
Rapid Valley sends most of its workers to Rapid City and beyond, is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in South Dakota and has colder winter nights than most of the country, though not than most of South Dakota.
A smaller share of working residents work locally in Rapid Valley than in most of South Dakota or the rest of the country
Rapid Valley has 487 jobs for its 4,313 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Among residents in Rapid Valley, 4.5% live below the poverty line, below both the South Dakota town median (9.6%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Jobs based in Rapid Valley grew to 487 in 2023, 214 more than in 2013. The town’s average commute comes in at 20 minutes. Half commute less than 5 miles.
| Rapid Valley | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 1.1% | 31% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 4.5% | 9.6% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 17 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 9.2% | 6.5% | 11% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Rapid Valley earns a C for schools
Public schools: the Rapid City Area School District 51-4. Its one school is below. Rapid Valley’s only public school teaches 486 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rapid Valley Elementary - 12Largest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 486 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SD on state tests and graduation
Rapid Valley earns a B+ for health
Within South Dakota it is less healthy than 59% of the 35 graded towns: South Dakota sets a high bar.
Of the 35 South Dakota towns we compare, none has a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Rapid Valley. Among adults here, 23% binge drink, against 19% in South Dakota’s towns and 16% across U.S. towns. Rapid Valley: 74% of adults had a checkup this year. Against the South Dakota average, Rapid Valley comes out ahead on 4 CDC measures out of 26, and behind on 1.
| Rapid Valley | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 19% | 16% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 76% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 30% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Rapid Valley | SD |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.5% | 6.8% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 10.3% | 12.7% |
| More binge drinkers | 22.6% | 18.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Snowy winters and pleasant summers in Rapid Valley
January nights average 13.9°: colder than most of the country, but milder than 98% of South Dakota places with climate records; July afternoons average 86.1°.
Its January low is 14°F. About 49 inches of snow falls in a winter.
| Rapid Valley | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 14°F | 9°F | 22°F |
| July high | 86°F | 85°F | 85°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Top of a high hazard risk in Rapid Valley: inland flooding
The FEMA risk score for Rapid Valley comes to 60 of 100. 31% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by wildfires at 21%.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A home in Rapid Valley sells for about $320K at the median
In Rapid Valley, 92% of households live in a home they own. On the market here: a median 41 days to sell. Sellers in Rapid Valley got 98% of the asking price, typically.
| Rapid Valley | South Dakota towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 92% | 68% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,174 a month | $958 a month | $1,185 a month |
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 Rapid Valley. Close and well known come first.
Big draw20 mi National MemorialMount Rushmore National Memorial1.9M visitors a year
Big draw30 mi LandmarkCrazy Horse Memorial
Big draw31 mi National ParkBadlands National Park1.1M visitors a year
24 mi MountainBlack Elk Peak
27 mi State parkCuster State Park
32 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 Rapid Valley
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Rapid Valley
About 3 of every 100 Rapid Valley residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across South Dakota.
About Rapid Valley
CDP in South Dakota, United States
Rapid Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Pennington County, South Dakota, United States, and a suburb of Rapid City. The population was 8,098 at the 2020 census. Rapid Valley has been a retreat for people living in Rapid City due to its low crime, cheap land, and views of the Black Hills. Rapid Valley is home to many industrial and financial businesses, and is the headquarters for many corporations specializing in transport and engineering.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 6.6 sq mi
- Elevation
- 3,156 ft
- Area code
- 605
Rapid Valley’s neighbors
3 towns share a border with Rapid Valley.
| Town | SD rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rapid Valley | #20 | B− | B− | — | C | B+ |
| Rapid City | #35 | D | C | D− | C | B |
| Box Elder | #34 | C− | D | C | B− | B+ |
| Green Valley | — | — | B− | — | C | B+ |
Green Valley has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Rapid Valley and Green Valley report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Rapid Valley with a neighbor →
Questions about Rapid Valley
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Rapid Valley, SD a good place to live?
Rapid Valley grades B− overall, better than 54% of U.S. towns and #20 of 35 in South Dakota. It grades B+ for health and C for schools.
Is Rapid Valley, SD expensive?
The typical home is worth about $256,000, 20% 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−.