HomeSouth DakotaPennington CountyBox Elder
Box Elder, South Dakota: commercial real estate data.
Box Elder is a Census city of 12,902 people across 14.83 square miles of land, lying across Pennington County and Meade County. Median household income is $73,008, 48.2 percent of occupied homes are owned, and the SBA record carries 12 7(a) approvals to borrowers here worth $6.5 m since FY2020.
Underlined figures are computed by MMCG Analytics, not published by the agency.
Box Elder
What Box Elder is
- Census place typecity
- Land area14.83 sq mi
- Water area0.02 sq mi
- Population per square mile of land870
- County holding the largest share of its areaPennington County, 89.8 percent
- Counties this place lies inPennington County 89.8 percent, Meade County 10.2 percent
Box Elder crosses a county line. The split above is measured from the Census boundary of the place against the county boundaries, by area, so it says where the ground is and not where the town hall is.
US Census Bureau, cartographic boundary file, places, 2024 vintage. US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Box Elder
How many people live in Box Elder
- Population12,902
- Median age28.8
- Population under 183,470
- Share under 1826.9 percent
- Population 65 and over963 plus or minus 253
- Share 65 and over7.5 percent plus or minus 2.0
- Households4,679
- Family households3,489
- Share of households that are families74.6 percent
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Box Elder
Income and work in Box Elder
- Median household income$73,008
- Per capita income$33,308
- Civilian labor force5,987
- Employed5,693
- Unemployed294 plus or minus 242
- Unemployment rate4.9 percent plus or minus 4.0
- Adults 25 and over7,601
- Adults 25 and over with a high school diploma or higher92.4 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a bachelor degree or higher28.0 percent
- Adults 25 and over with a graduate degree8.0 percent plus or minus 2.6
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Box Elder
Housing in Box Elder
- Housing units5,149
- Occupied units4,679
- Vacant units470 plus or minus 242
- Vacancy rate9.1 percent plus or minus 4.5
- Owner occupied2,257
- Renter occupied2,422 plus or minus 536
- Ownership rate48.2 percent
- Median owner-occupied home value$302,100
- Median gross rent, monthly$1,491
- Annual rent as a share of median income24.5 percent
- Single family units3,246
- Share single family63.0 percent
- Units in buildings of two or more990 plus or minus 278
- Share in buildings of two or more19.2 percent plus or minus 4.7
- Mobile homes829 plus or minus 269
- Median year structure built2004
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Box Elder
How Box Elder gets to work
- Workers 16 and over who commute6,612
- Commuting under 15 minutes2,581 plus or minus 2,294
- Share commuting under 15 minutes39.0 percent plus or minus 34.4
- Commuting 30 minutes or more1,214 plus or minus 350
- Share commuting 30 minutes or more18.4 percent plus or minus 4.9
- Drove alone75.8 percent plus or minus 15.1
- Carpooled12.8 percent plus or minus 3.2
- Public transport0.8 percent plus or minus 1.2
- Walked2.0 percent plus or minus 7.7
- Worked from home6.9 percent plus or minus 2.6
US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
Box Elder
SBA loans in Box Elder (7(a))
- Approvals12
- Gross approval$6,471,000
- Average approval$539,250
- Median approval$90,750
- Largest approval$4,580,000
- Jobs supported215
- Jobs per approval17.9
- Loans with a final outcome4
- Paid in full4
- Charged off0
- Median term84 months
- Share on real estate terms of 20 years or more8.3 percent
- Share to franchises0.0 percent
- Distinct lenders7
- Distinct industries by NAICS8
Counted by borrower city: approvals to borrowers whose address is in Box Elder, in any county, FY2020 to FY2026. Only 4 loans have reached a final outcome, fewer than the 30 a charge-off rate needs, so no rate is published.
US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA release, FY2020 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Box Elder
SBA loans in Box Elder (504)
- Approvals8
- Gross approval$6,426,000
- Average approval$803,250
- Median approval$552,000
- Largest approval$1,895,000
- Jobs supported154
- Loans with a final outcome1
- Charged off0
- Median term270 months
- Distinct CDCs2
Counted by borrower city: approvals to borrowers whose address is in Box Elder, in any county, FY2010 to FY2026. Only 1 loan has reached a final outcome, fewer than the 30 a charge-off rate needs, so no rate is published.
US Small Business Administration, 504 FOIA release, FY2010 to FY2026 year to date, as of 2026-06-30.
Box Elder
Flood risk in Box Elder
- NFIP communityCity of Box Elder
- NFIP community number460089
- Participating in the NFIPYes
- Community Rating System classNone
- Currently effective map date06/03/13
The City of Box Elder participates in the National Flood Insurance Program as community 460089 and carries no Community Rating System class, so no CRS premium discount applies to it.
Federal Emergency Management Agency, NFIP Community Status Book (OpenFEMA), as of 2026-09-26.
Pennington County, not Box Elder
Pennington County context, not Box Elder figures
- Establishments in Pennington County4,137
- Covered employment, Pennington County62,114
- Average annual pay, Pennington County$57,286
- Housing units permitted, Pennington County1,183
Every figure in this section is published for Pennington County as a whole and is not a measurement of Box Elder.
All Pennington County figures →
US Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2024 annual averages. US Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, 2024 annual.
Coverage
What this page does not hold.
Parcel detail, zoning and the flood zone at an address are not on this page; they resolve at the address in the platform. How this page was built →
Common questions
Box Elder questions, answered from the record.
How many people live in Box Elder, South Dakota?
12,902, in 4,679 households. Box Elder city covers 14.83 square miles of land, which is 870 people per square mile. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
What county is Box Elder in?
Box Elder lies in more than one. By area it is 89.8 percent in Pennington County, 10.2 percent in Meade County. This page sits under Pennington County because that county holds the largest share. The split is measured from the Census boundary of the place against the county boundaries.
What is the median household income in Box Elder?
$73,008. The median owner-occupied home is valued at $302,100. Median gross rent is $1,491 per month. Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, place level, 2020-2024 5-year.
How much SBA lending goes to Box Elder businesses?
12 7(a) approvals totaling $6.5 m since FY2020, across 7 lenders, median approval $90,750, plus 8 504 approvals worth $6.4 m since FY2010. These count approvals to borrowers whose address is in Box Elder, not projects sited inside the place boundary, and they are approvals recorded in the release rather than loans disbursed.
Do SBA loans to Box Elder borrowers get paid back?
No rate is published for Box Elder. Only 4 loans have reached a final outcome, fewer than the 30 a charge-off rate needs, so no rate is published. The counts are shown instead.
Is Box Elder in the National Flood Insurance Program?
Yes. Box Elder appears in the FEMA Community Status Book as Box Elder, city of, community 460089, with no Community Rating System class, so no CRS discount applies. Whether a specific parcel sits in a mapped special flood hazard area is an address level question the platform answers.
Are the county figures on this page Box Elder figures?
No, and they are labeled so. County Business Patterns, QCEW, the Building Permits Survey, BEA product and IRS migration are published for Pennington County as a whole and there is no place level equivalent. They appear in one clearly marked section as context and are never presented as measurements of Box Elder.
Is zoning published for Box Elder?
No. Nothing on this page presents parcel level zoning.