Box Elder, South Dakota
2026 Edition · 10 cards · data as of Oct 30, 2026
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Population
Growing. Up 16.6% since 2020.
13,936
people, the 10th-largest of South Dakota's cities and towns.
Census Population Estimates, 2025. Rank among South Dakota's cities and towns computed by the Almanac. Sources: Census Population Estimates
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The workday
8 in 10 jobs here go to people who live somewhere else.
83.9%
of 2,128 jobs located in Box Elder are filled by in-commuters.
Census LEHD LODES, 2023. Sources: Census LEHD LODES
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Rent
Median rent is up 167% since the 2005–2009 survey, before inflation.
$1,491
a month. South Dakota's median is $946.
Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024 (latest), with earlier 5-year windows. Sources: Census ACS 5-year
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The seam
Cross one tract line and median rent doubles.
A $900 gap between neighbors, the sharpest rent edge between adjacent tracts in Pennington County.
- $464 Tract 110.01
- $1,364 Tract 110.02
Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024, adjacent tracts compared by the Almanac. Tract estimates carry wide margins of error. Sources: Census ACS 5-year
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Room to build
The median rent sits inside what local wages can carry.
$1,064–$1,596
is the monthly rent range local workforce wages support.
- $1,491 median
Supportable rent computed by the Almanac from 2023 source wage data. Median rent: Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Sources: Computed by the Almanac, Census ACS 5-year
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Building
41% of the housing here was built before 2000.
- 1,564 homes permitted in ten years, 2016–2025
- 53% of those were in multifamily buildings
- 41% of all homes were built before 2000
Census Building Permits Survey, 2016–2025; Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Sources: Census Building Permits Survey, Census ACS 5-year
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Units needed
Closing the gap would add 0.4–0.6% to the 5,149 homes here.
21–33
is the estimated number of missing housing units, from the lowest to the highest of three estimates.
Range computed by the Almanac from 2023 jobs and household data, using three demand models: 1% of jobs located here, 1% of renter households, and a rate by town size applied to renters. The low end is the lowest of the three and the high end the highest. It is an estimate, not a count. Sources: Computed by the Almanac
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Home value
A median home costs 17% more than South Dakota's.
$302,100
median home value in Box Elder.
- $302,100 Box Elder
- $257,400 South Dakota
- $332,700 U.S.
Census ACS 5-year, 2020-2024. Sources: Census ACS 5-year