Rapid City, South Dakota Short-Term Rental Market
Rapid City, SD short-term rentals averaged $279/night at 73.9% occupancy in June 2026, ahead of its first STR ordinance.
Quick Answer: Rapid City, South Dakota is an active short-term rental market. average occupancy is 74%. average monthly revenue is $5,549. average daily rate is $279. the top operator is Evolve with 72 listings. market score is 50/100 (grade D).
Market Score Breakdown
Five dimensions Apivex evaluates per market.
Market Overview
Rapid City’s short-term rental market posted a $279 average daily rate and 73.9% occupancy in June 2026, generating $5,549 in average monthly revenue per listing. By property type, houses averaged $6,137/month, entire-place listings $5,823/month, and apartments $3,907/month. Year over year, occupancy was roughly flat (up 0.53 percentage points) and average revenue rose 3.3%, even as ADR fell 9.0%, one of the steepest ADR declines in this batch alongside Sherrills Ford.
The market carries roughly 2,450-2,460 active listings. The bedroom mix skews small: 926 one-bedroom (38% of supply), 579 two-bedroom, 481 three-bedroom, 289 four-bedroom, and 177 five-bedroom. Entire-place listings account for 2,280 (about 93%), with 171 private rooms and 7 shared rooms. Channel data shows 1,080 listings on both Airbnb and Vrbo, 1,041 Airbnb-only, and 337 Vrbo-only.
Rapid City is the primary gateway to the Black Hills and Badlands, about 24 miles from Mount Rushmore, and welcomed roughly 3.93 million visitors in 2025 (up 1.4% from 2024), who spent $527.3 million and supported an estimated 9.6% of all local jobs. Its rental demand score of 80.54 (out of 100) and investability score of 78.48 point to a solid tourism-anchored market, though its total market score of 50.48 and seasonality score of 50.12 reflect a market with a pronounced summer peak rather than year-round demand.
Seasonal Patterns
| Month | Occupancy | ADR | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 38% | $152 | $1,695 |
| Feb | 47% | $158 | $1,700 |
| Mar | 56% | $160 | $2,147 |
| Apr | 47% | $162 | $1,914 |
| May | 61% | $198 | $2,540 |
| Jun | 75% | $249 | $4,767 |
| Jul | 75% | $248 | $5,043 |
| Aug | 63% | $251 | $4,356 |
| Sep | 58% | $203 | $3,244 |
| Oct | 49% | $173 | $2,376 |
| Nov | 40% | $156 | $1,783 |
| Dec | 45% | $162 | $1,867 |
Top Short-Term Rental Operators in Rapid City
Ranked by total active listings. Useful for understanding the competitive landscape.
| # | Operator | Listings | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evolve | 72 | 4,999 | ★ 4.79 |
| 2 | Stay in the Black Hills | 60 | 4,536 | ★ 4.82 |
| 3 | Soujourn | 40 | 6,568 | ★ 4.67 |
| 4 | Velora Management Group | 28 | 807 | ★ 4.55 |
| 5 | Bear Property Management | 27 | 1,634 | ★ 4.86 |
What Kind of STR Should I Buy in Rapid City?
Revenue and pricing by property type, tier, and bedroom count.
Revenue by Bedroom Count
| 1 bed | 926 |
| 2 bed | 579 |
| 3 bed | 481 |
| 4 bed | 289 |
| 5 bed | 177 |
ADR by Property Tier
| Entire Home | $286 |
| Luxury | $400 |
| Professionally Managed | $332 |
Revenue by Dwelling Type
| Apartment | $3,907 |
| Entire Place | $5,823 |
| House | $6,137 |
Booking Channel Mix
Distribution of bookings across major STR platforms.
| Channel | Share |
|---|---|
| airbnb | 42.4% |
| vrbo | 13.7% |
| both | 43.9% |
Investment Analysis
Rapid City’s typical home value is $363,258, with a median sale price of $334,167 (84.7% of list price, indicating some buyer negotiating room) across 332 homes for sale, and a median 19 days to pending. Using the average listing’s $5,549 monthly revenue, annualized to $66,591, that computes to a gross yield of roughly 18.3% against the typical home value, a healthy and directly usable figure for this batch.
Rate tiers show clear upside: the all-listings ADR of $279 rises to $286 for entire-home-only rentals, $332 for professionally managed listings (19% above the all-listings average), and $400 for the luxury tier (43% above). Rapid City just adopted its first-ever short-term rental ordinance in December 2025, a genuinely new regulatory landscape: operators need a South Dakota state lodging license plus an annual city registration for just $70, with a conditional-use permit required only for homes with more than five bedrooms. The city estimates 600 to 1,000 vacation homes currently operate, below the roughly 2,280 entire-place listings tracked in this market’s STR data, a gap that could reflect the ordinance’s narrower definition (whole-home rentals of up to 28 consecutive days and more than 14 total days per year) excluding some listings, or simply that many operators have not yet registered under the six-month compliance grace period.
Revenue Trend (5 yr)
ADR & Occupancy Trends (5 yr)
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Booking Insights
Rapid City guests book an average of 80.3 days ahead of arrival, one of the longer lead times in this batch, giving owners about an 11-week window to adjust pricing ahead of the Black Hills’ peak summer season. Average length of stay is 3.6 nights, on the shorter end of this batch, consistent with a multi-stop road trip itinerary covering Mount Rushmore, Badlands National Park, and Custer State Park rather than a single extended stay.
That combination, a long lead time paired with a shorter stay, suggests guests plan their Black Hills trip well in advance as part of a broader regional itinerary, then move through relatively quickly. For owners, that means solid advance pricing visibility but more frequent turnover and guest-communication costs per dollar of revenue than in longer-stay markets.
The long lead time is a useful lever heading into the city’s new vacation-home ordinance: owners can post updated permit and registration numbers well before peak-season bookings lock in, and can plan around the two-off-street-parking-space and occupancy-cap requirements without disrupting an already-booked summer calendar. Shorter, road-trip-driven stays also mean any single booking gap is easier to backfill than in markets built around week-long stays.
Short-Term Rental Regulations
Rapid City passed its first-ever vacation home rental ordinance in December 2025 (council vote December 2, 2025; final reading December 15, 2025). It applies to vacation homes, defined as any home rented in its entirety for stays of up to 28 consecutive days and more than 14 total days per year. Operators must hold a South Dakota state lodging license (with an annual state Department of Health inspection) and complete an annual city registration carrying a $70 fee.
Whole-home rentals are allowed in all zoning districts that permit residential use, so there is no owner-occupancy or primary-residence requirement. Each property must provide two off-street parking spaces, and occupancy is capped at two guests per bedroom plus two additional. Homes with more than five bedrooms need a conditional use permit. Partial-home rentals where the owner lives on-site are instead treated as bed-and-breakfasts under separate rules.
The city gave existing operators a six-month grace period to come into compliance and estimates 600 to 1,000 vacation homes operate at any time. Combined transaction taxes on short-term lodging run roughly 8.7%: a 4.2% South Dakota state sales tax, a 2% municipal sales tax, a 1% municipal gross receipts tax on lodging, and a 1.5% state tourism tax. Enforcement is rated moderate given how new the ordinance is. No maximum-nights-per-year cap applies beyond the 28-consecutive-day/14-total-day definition itself.
Market Comparison
At 73.9% occupancy and a $279 ADR, Rapid City runs well above the roughly 55% occupancy and roughly $220 ADR typical of the broader US short-term rental market, reflecting its role as the primary gateway to Mount Rushmore, Badlands National Park, and Custer State Park, a region that drew roughly 3.93 million visitors in 2025. Its rental demand score of 80.54 out of 100 supports that read, even as its total market score of 50.48 reflects a market with a pronounced, short summer peak.
Property management here is led by regional and boutique operators rather than the largest national platforms: Evolve tops the list with 72 listings (4,999 reviews, 4.79 rating), followed by Stay in the Black Hills (60 listings, 4.82 rating), Soujourn (40 listings, 6,568 reviews, the most reviews per listing of any top-5 operator in this market), Velora Management Group (28 listings), and Bear Property Management (27 listings). The top 5 combined control 227 of the market’s roughly 2,450-2,460 listings, about 9.2%, meaning most Rapid City STR supply remains independently operated, a dynamic likely to shift now that the city’s new vacation-home ordinance is in effect.
Frequently Asked Questions About Rapid City, South Dakota
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