Best PlacesBlack Hawk, SD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Black Hawk, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Black Hawk ranks 14,599th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Black Hawk
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Black Hawk's strengths and weaknesses
Where Black Hawk ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 98% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 95% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 90% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 87% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 84% of towns
Where Black Hawk ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 19% of towns
- School gradeC−, better than only 20% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 21% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Black Hawk
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Black Hawk home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,016, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Black Hawk's effective rate of 0.92%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Black Hawk
Black Hawk runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Black Hawk.
Who works in Black Hawk, and how
Work in Black Hawk centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Black Hawk
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Black Hawk.
What the weather is like in Black Hawk, month by month
Black Hawk sees roughly 99 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 26° | 14° |
| April | 60° | 44° | 31° |
| July | 90° | 75° | 60° |
| October | 65° | 48° | 35° |
Flying in and out of Black Hawk
The nearest airport, Rapid City Regional, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 305 miles away.
The best schools in and around Black Hawk
Schools across Black Hawk average a C−, better than 20% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pinedale Elementary - 11B · 45% proficient
- Black Hawk Elementary - 03D− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newcastle Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Sturgis Williams Middle School - 02B · 45% proficient
- West Middle School - 37C− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Sturgis Brown High School - 01C− · 30% proficient
- Rapid City High School - 45F · 11% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Black Hawk school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Black Hawk measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Black Hawk against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Black Hawk
Is Black Hawk a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Black Hawk ranks 14,599th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, few empty homes, and state infrastructure, and lowest on distance from a big city and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Black Hawk expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $290,741. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $86,016 median income, cost of living beats 76% of towns.
Is Black Hawk safe?
Yes, Black Hawk is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $350 per resident a year.
Compare Black Hawk with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Black Hawk. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Black Hawk represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Black Hawk detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Black Hawk: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Black Hawk: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Black Hawk: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Black Hawk: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Black Hawk detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.