57706Box Elder, South Dakota

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 57706.

52out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 21% of 5,298 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 32% of 6,210 ZIP areas measured63
GrowthTop 17% of 5,428 ZIP areas measured68
Housing affordability6568th of 6,685 ZIP areas measured28
Climate6543rd of 6,789 ZIP areas measured54
Physical resilience5660th of 6,709 ZIP areas measured21
Access3884th of 6,791 ZIP areas measured90
Economic stabilityTop 5% of 6,742 ZIP areas measured84
The quick read

Rent takes 36% of median household income here, at or above the threshold conventionally called cost-burdened.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by inland flooding, wildfire and cold wave.

A major airport is 8 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
2,787
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$57,162
Bottom 25% nationally
Density
454/sq mi
6.1 sq mi of land
Median age
21.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Box Elder
South Dakota
Metro area
Rapid City, SD
Nearest major airport
RAP
8 mi · Rapid City Rgnl
Median home value

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 2.0% is lower than 100% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 1.6% over the past year, to 16,273 employed residents.

41% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 80% of measured US ZIP areas.

Median household income of $57,162 is below 75% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$14,367$57,162Bottom 25%of 31,2952024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,251$24,521Bottom 12%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate1.4%Bottom 7%of 32,9702024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute11.5 minBottom 2%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher40.9%Top 20%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Employment16,273Bottom 13%of 6,544June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.5%Top 29%of 6,542June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.6%Bottom 29%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force16,608Bottom 12%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force participation86.6%Top 2%of 33,2522024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$57,850Bottom 11%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Median annual wage$46,270Bottom 13%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.0%Bottom 47%of 6,544June 2026
Unemployment rate2.0%Bottom 1%of 6,544June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202461k57k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $57,162 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Rapid City, SD
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons3,090$33,350
Fast Food and Counter Workers2,860$29,440
Registered Nurses2,480$79,380
Cashiers1,980$30,460
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks1,720$46,810
Stockers and Order Fillers1,580$37,150

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Box Elder, SD, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,738 takes 36% of median household income, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

Rent as a share of income
36.5%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,738
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Homeownership rate0.0%Bottom 1%of 32,9102024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±274764Bottom 40%of 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$56$1,738Top 14%of 26,6182024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income36.5%Top 2%of 26,4702024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate11.3%Top 49%of 33,0282024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
68/ 100
Top 17% of 5,428 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 5.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
73
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.7
Top 27% nationally
Year over year
−10%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Box Elder, SD, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 86°F and January a low of 13°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 17.4 inches, including 48.5 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 45, in the Good band, and about 7 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

0°20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station RAPID CITY RGNL AP, 8.3 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND3.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index71.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation17.4"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall48.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low13°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months41991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10072024 calendar year
Median air quality index45.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing48°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
45
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
71
90th percentile index
Days above 100
7
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

21 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, wildfire and cold wave.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 71% of measured US ZIP areas.

WildfireHigh
Winter weatherElevated
HailModerate
LandslideModerate
Cold waveModerate
Inland floodingModerate
LightningModerate
Strong windModerate
TornadoModerate

Low or minimal exposure: ice storm, earthquake, heat wave, drought, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Meade County records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 21.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 9.4 per 100,000 residents in Meade County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
21.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
9.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
35.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Meade County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 57706 rather than 57706 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 8 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Rapid City RgnlRAP8 mi8,701 ft
Alliance MuniAIA146 mi9,203 ft
Scottsbluff/Western Nebraska Rgnl/Wm B Heilig FldBFF160 mi8,279 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
52
Your Score

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

57706 vs Box Elder

How this ZIP area compares with Box Elder as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

57706
Box Elder
Median household income
$57,162
vs
$73,008
Per capita income
$24,521
vs
$33,308
Population density
454/sq mi
vs
870/sq mi
Median gross rent
$1,738
vs
$1,491
Homeownership rate
0.0%
vs
48.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher
40.9%
vs
28.0%
Poverty rate
1.4%
vs
7.5%
Median age
21.7
vs
28.8

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.