Access to stable, safe, and affordable housing is a foundational need for families and individuals working towards economic stability. Since the pandemic, costs for both rental and owner-occupied housing have risen substantially, putting additional pressure on our community’s most vulnerable.

• 38% of Rapid City households are renters. There are 11,742 renter occupied housing units in Rapid City compared to 30,737 owner-occupied units.
• 45% of renters are moderately or severely housing cost burdened compared to 21% of homeowners. A moderately cost burdened renter household spends between 30 and 49.9% of their household income on gross rent (defined as monthly rent plus utilities expenses). A severely cost burdened renter household spends 50% or more of their household income on gross rent.
• Median household income for a renter-occupied household is $35,584 compared to $75,506 for owner-occupied household. 27% of renters live in poverty compared to 2.7% of owner-occupied homes.
• The median year built for housing was 1978. 52% of all housing stock is over 40 years old. Older homes tend to require major capital investment or to exhibit lower quality more generally than newer homes.

As of May 2023:

• Average monthly rent in Rapid City was $1,199. The monthly income needed to afford that rent is $4,282 monthly or $51,384 annually.
• The Rapid City rental vacancy rate was 6.2%. The area saw a low of 1.3% vacancy rate in January 2021. The rate has rapidly recovered the past few quarters, though most of this is driven by high-end apartments. Apartments affordable for the median wage still show a low vacancy rate of 4%.
• The median listing price for a home was $438,775. Estimated mortgage of $2,638. The monthly income needed to afford that mortgage is $10,095 monthly or $121,148 annually.
• There were 127 active home listings for Rapid City. Though active listings bottomed out at 53 in March of 2021 due to pandemic-era housing grabs, it is still much lower than the average 400 listings available in 2019.

Sources:

• S. Census Bureau 2021 5-Year American Community Survey Estimates Table S2504
• S. Census Bureau 2021 5-Year American Community Survey Estimates Table S2503
• Elevate Rapid City Housing Dashboard.