I've lived in the rapid city area for over 20 years, the economy is strong lots of jobs to be had. Housing market is nuts, houses were selling with only a few days on the market with people paying over asking price, that said it has been getting a little better. Crime has been on the rise but it's primarily drug related and alot of it is native on native crime in low income housing areas. The schools are alright and they are planning on building new schools in the near future with the infulx of people that are expected with Ellsworth expanding for the new B21 raiders. Ohh and no penguins lol

Yeah the housing market went crazy in the last year or two

First Nolo and now Aimless? Who'd have thunk it?

I wouldn't stay in rapid proper but that's just me. I live in BFE but drive to rapid daily for work. Commutes here are short but miles can be long if that makes sense.

I'd say overall the school's are good, crime is low, and economy is great. I was born here. Raised here. And I will die here. No place else I'd rather be.

I moved here back in March. I live in Summerset which is 10-15 minutes from the big box stores in Rapid City via I90. I bought the house in January, it sold in 1 day. Yes, I was "that guy"- out of stater with cash who beat out several other offers. I just had to GTFO of Nevada, the blue states/cities can lick my butthole. If you are looking in the small towns outside of Rapid City/Pennington County, most homes for sale here don't even make it onto the MLS. When an agent gets a seller signed up, they have 2 days IIRC before they have to list it and during that time they will offer it to fellow agents at their office and it gets snagged within that 2 days. I hope you like wind, we have plenty of it here! I moved here from Nevada and I should have moved back in 2018 right after mom died and I got her house sold. It is amazing how up here people for the most part are not assholes like I am used to living in L.A. and Las Vegas.

We have a Lowe's, but no Home Depot. We have a Sam's Club, but no Costco. Small town living baby! And our gun/self defense laws are 180° from what you are used to in Noo Yawk!

Several major sporting goods stores along with that target. Decent restaurants but not a ton of them. Lots of breweries in the area. Nice variety of terrain and social settings in the greater Hills. 5+ hours away from any major cities, for what that's worth to you.

Crime is low; anyone who's lived in a major metro knows there's nothing happening here. It's meth heads being crazy and kids looting unlocked cars, with the occasional serious crime once in a while.

Schools are OK, probably better in one of the smaller adjacent towns. Like everywhere, they get worse every year.

For housing I'd be looking at Hot Springs or Belle Fourche. Bit of a commute depending on the nature of the job, but it'll still be faster than going anywhere in NY lol.

Economy is good. Lots of people adapting to circumstances, being productive and working hard to keep things moving.

Winter is coming.

Kind of the same question from another perspective: we're considering SD or WY for retirement (in about ten years). Wife wants the Sioux Falls area, I say Rapid. We're currently in MN and from what I've heard, SF weather and politics is "Minnesota-light."
She didn't like RC.

So, what would be a good compromise? Any good towns for retirees in the western half of the state? Should we be looking at buying something now, land or otherwise?

You're right about Sioux Falls but it's still nothing like MN. Seems like it's getting worse and worse with stabbings, shootings, etc. Rapid probably isn't much better crime-wise but The Hills make it worthwhile. There's always Pierre, I guess. Centrally located and great hunting and fishing.

Moved to Rapid from upstate NY this past summer and all the stuff above is true. Most people are shockingly nice with the biggest downside being retail transactions take about three times as long as back east so you'll need to learn to slow down!  Great town, lots of parks, dog friendly, winters are definitely an improvement over the dreariness and lake effect snow of upstate NY.

You really only have Rapid, Spearfish or Hot Springs for west river towns with any population. Population means of course access to medical care etc. Sioux Falls is definitely Minnesota light.  In my opinion, Rapid is far better than SF.

Spearfish is probably the nicest town in the Hills(also has a good sized hospital), but you will pay for it.  The time to buy reasonably priced property in the Black Hills was at least 20 years ago.  There are a lot of nice smaller towns w/ more reasonable priced housing.  But, the further out you get, the further from medical services you are.  Some of the west river towns get relatively desolate, and you will pick up emergency car repair pars at the local mechanics,  staple groceries at the gas station, and drive an hour or two for every thing else except a bar or church.

wow, what's with house prices? i bought a house on the east side of rapid city in 2003 for about $120k that's valued at $340k now

Yeah its crazy. My parents built a nice place up in the hills for about $350k around 10 years ago and now its appraised around $900k-$1M