Cold semi-arid
Rapid Valley, South Dakota
Pennington County, South Dakota · Population 7.2k · 3,153 ft elevation
Living in Rapid Valley
Rapid Valley has a cold semi-arid climate: hot summers (July highs around 86°F) and cold winters (January lows around 13°F).
Precipitation is dry at about 17″ a year, and it gets a fair bit of snow (49″ a season).
Skies are sunny (67% of possible sunshine). It never gets truly muggy.
Air quality is good: a median AQI of 32, with about 1 unhealthy-air day in the latest year.
There is plenty to explore outdoors around Rapid Valley: about 28% of the land within 30 miles is public (parks, national forest and the like), and the terrain rises and falls about 3,000 ft around town.
Rapid Valley at a glance
- Population
- 7.2k
- Elevation
- 3,153 ft
- Average daily high
- 60°F18th percentile
- Average daily low
- 34°F4th percentile
- Annual precipitation
- 17″11th percentile
- Annual snowfall
- 49″87th percentile
- Sunshine hours per year
- 3,005 hrs67th percentile
- Median AQI
- 327th percentile
- Median home value
- $226k41th percentile
- Median rent
- $1,263/mo55th percentile
- Median household income
- $85k61th percentile
- Property tax rate
- 1.09%56th percentile
- Top state income-tax rate
- 0.0%
- Sales tax (state + local)
- 6.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.4%
- Homes with broadband
- 93%62th percentile
- Walkability index
- 6.214th percentile
- Average commute
- 18 min
- Math proficiency (8th grade)
- 42%42th percentile
- Reading proficiency (8th grade)
- 52%
- Overall natural-hazard risk
- 7932th percentile
- Outdoor access
- 8079th percentile
- Public land within 10 miles
- 0%
- Public land within 30 miles
- 28%
- Mountain relief within 30 miles
- 2,986 ft
Climate by month
| Month | High | Low | Precipitation | Snow | Sunshine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 36°F | 13°F | 0.3″ | 5.3″ | 185 hrs |
| Feb | 38°F | 14°F | 0.5″ | 7.7″ | 190 hrs |
| Mar | 48°F | 23°F | 0.9″ | 8.4″ | 228 hrs |
| Apr | 57°F | 31°F | 2.1″ | 10.1″ | 233 hrs |
| May | 67°F | 42°F | 3.5″ | 1.5″ | 277 hrs |
| Jun | 78°F | 52°F | 2.9″ | — | 329 hrs |
| Jul | 86°F | 59°F | 2.3″ | — | 373 hrs |
| Aug | 85°F | 56°F | 1.6″ | — | 343 hrs |
| Sep | 76°F | 46°F | 1.2″ | 0.1″ | 277 hrs |
| Oct | 60°F | 34°F | 1.4″ | 3.0″ | 218 hrs |
| Nov | 47°F | 22°F | 0.5″ | 5.7″ | 184 hrs |
| Dec | 37°F | 14°F | 0.3″ | 6.7″ | 167 hrs |
Near Rapid Valley
- Box Elder, SD · 12k
- Rapid City, SD · 77k
- Blackhawk, SD · 2.8k
- Summerset, SD · 3k
- Sturgis, SD · 7.1k
- Lead, SD · 3k
- Spearfish, SD · 13k
- Hot Springs, SD · 3.5k
Largest places in South Dakota
- Sioux Falls, SD · 198k
- Aberdeen, SD · 28k
- Brookings, SD · 24k
- Watertown, SD · 23k
- Mitchell, SD · 16k
- Yankton, SD · 16k
- Huron, SD · 14k
- Pierre, SD · 14k
Sources: NOAA climate normals, NASA POWER, EPA air quality, U.S. Census Bureau, FEMA, FBI, EPA walkability and EDFacts. Methodology