Verified town profile

Custer, South Dakota

Incorporated municipality · Population 1,803

Custer is an incorporated municipality of 1,803 residents in South Dakota. Its nearest regional center is Rapid City, SD, about 59 minutes away by car. The median home value is $235,600.

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Townsteading score: 78.3
Confidence: High data confidence
Data updated: Jul 26, 2026

Included in the verified public directory after passing every published screening rule. How verification works.

At a glance

Population: 1,803
Median home value: $235,600
Median household income: $78,369
Nearest regional city: Rapid City
Drive time: 59 minutes
Walkability score: 80.8
Homeownership rate: 70%
Townsteading score: 78.3

The case

Why Custer is included

Custer appears in the public directory because it passes every published screening rule: its population of 1,803 falls within the 1,000–5,000 resident screening band; its nearest regional center, Rapid City, is reachable in about 59 minutes by car, inside the 60-minute limit; its town-center walkability analysis completed successfully.

Beyond the screen: its median home value of $235,600 is about 3.0 times median household income; its nationally normalized walkability score is 81 out of 100; OpenStreetMap data records 48 tracked everyday destinations within a 15-minute walk of its center.

The place

Local map

Map key

Bank
Civic destination
General retail
Grocery
Library
Park
Pharmacy
Place of worship
Post office
Restaurant or café

About this map

The map is centered on Custer (43.7667, -103.5996) and shows the municipal boundary from 2025 Census TIGER/Line data. Basemap data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Reachable destinations shown on the map

Custer Wolf Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 12 m
Custer County Library Library · Approximate network distance: 217 m
The Custer Beacon Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 339 m
Sage Creek Grill Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 207 m
Skogen Kitchen Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 82 m
Espresso & More Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 965 m
Our Redeemer Place of worship · Approximate network distance: 639 m
Park Park · Approximate network distance: 541 m
Pizza Mill Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 559 m
Dakota BBQ Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 45 m
Calamity Jane's Kitchen Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 12 m
Buglin' Bull Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 44 m
Begging Burro Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 148 m
Pizza Hut Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 148 m
Burger & Bun Co. Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 45 m
The Custer Wolf - Food & Drink Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 165 m
Park Park · Approximate network distance: 378 m
Dollar General General retail · Approximate network distance: 603 m
Park Park · Approximate network distance: 115 m
Common Cents Grocery · Approximate network distance: 718 m
Purple Pie Place Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 670 m
Big D Grocery · Approximate network distance: 1108 m
Cowboy Cafe Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 1022 m
Captain's Table Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 1048 m
Custer Area Chamber Of Commerce Civic destination · Approximate network distance: 255 m
Dacotah Bank Bank · Approximate network distance: 201 m
Lynn's Dakotamart Grocery · Approximate network distance: 426 m
Harbach Centennial Park Park · Approximate network distance: 355 m
Federal Credit Union Bank · Approximate network distance: 638 m
Dark Horse Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 476 m
Family Dollar General retail · Approximate network distance: 476 m
Pizza Works Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 150 m
Yesway Grocery · Approximate network distance: 150 m
Cattleman's Restaurant Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 415 m
Corner Pantry Grocery · Approximate network distance: 263 m
DQ Grill & Chill Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 289 m
US Department of Agriculture Civic destination · Approximate network distance: 195 m
Wrangler Family Dining Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 286 m
Park Park · Approximate network distance: 429 m
Subway Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 597 m
Our Place Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 339 m
Way Park Park · Approximate network distance: 117 m
French Creek Park Park · Approximate network distance: 541 m
Big Rock Park Park · Approximate network distance: 751 m
St. John the Baptist Place of worship · Approximate network distance: 413 m
Bakers Bakery and Cafe Restaurant or café · Approximate network distance: 149 m
Carson Drug Pharmacy · Approximate network distance: 149 m
Post office Post office · Approximate network distance: 276 m

Destinations are derived from OpenStreetMap and may be incomplete or outdated.

Daily-life access within a 15-minute walk of the center

5 grocery stores
1 pharmacy
24 restaurants and cafes
1 library
1 post office
8 parks and playgrounds
2 civic buildings
2 banks
2 general retail stores
2 places of worship

Destination counts come from OpenStreetMap and may understate what exists on the ground.

Housing

Housing and affordability

Median home value: $235,600
Median gross rent: $968
Median household income: $78,369
Home value ÷ income: 3.0
Poverty rate: 14.2%

Owner-occupied: 69.5%
Vacancy rate: 15.5%
Homes built before 1940: 19.6%
Homes built before 1960: 39.7%
Population density (per sq mi): 699

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, reference period 2020–2024. Where a value reads “Data unavailable,” the estimate was not reported or did not pass quality checks for this place.

Access

Regional access

Townsteading does not require isolation. Every verified town has a modeled driving route of no more than 60 minutes to a regional center — a city with the hospitals, suppliers, and services a small town leans on.

Nearest regional city: Rapid City, SD
Regional city population: 80,589
Modeled drive time: 59 minutes
Routed distance: 41.2 miles
Straight-line distance: 28.3 miles

Drive times are modeled with OSRM over the OpenStreetMap road network (July 2026). They are not live traffic estimates and will vary with conditions.

Community

Closest Orthodox parish

St. John the Theologian Orthodox Mission

Modeled drive time: Approximately 56 minutes by car
Routed distance: 40.1 driving miles
Address: 601 Flormann Street Rapid City, SD 57701
Jurisdiction: Antiochian
Phone: 605-716-0519

Parish website

Parish information is based on the Orthodoxy in America directory, retrieved July 27, 2026. Drive time is modeled from the current OSRM route calculation and may change.

Form

Walkability and settlement form

Overall walkability: 80.8
Destination access: 88.6
Network connectivity: 74.8
Compactness: 73.9

The walkability score models what can be reached on foot from the town center over the street network in about 15 minutes: everyday destinations, the connectedness of the street grid, and the compactness of the town's form. Scores are normalized nationally across the candidate corpus, from 0 to 100.

These are modeled measures of urban form derived from OpenStreetMap. They do not confirm sidewalk coverage, crossings, lighting, or pedestrian safety, and OpenStreetMap data may be incomplete in small towns.

People

People and households

Median age: 51.2
Average household size: 1.9
Average family size: 2.2
Mean commute: 17 minutes

Age

Under 18: 13.4%
18–24: 10.6%
25–44: 22.5%
45–64: 18.8%
65 and over: 34.7%

Households

Family households: 68.1%
Nonfamily households: 31.9%
Households with children: 21.2%
Married-couple families: 69.8%
Single-parent families: 12.6%
One-person households: 29.0%

Education (25+)

Less than high school: 8.9%
High school diploma: 32.0%
Some college: 23.8%
Associate degree: 9.2%
Bachelor's degree: 18.0%
Graduate degree: 8.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 26.1%

“Bachelor's degree or higher” is a subtotal of the two degree rows above it.

Race and ethnicity

White: 87.6%
Black: 0.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native: 3.2%
Asian: 1.2%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander: 0.0%
Some other race: 0.0%
Two or more races: 7.9%

Ethnicity, reported separately

Hispanic or Latino (any race): 2.2%
White, not Hispanic or Latino: 86.4%

Hispanic or Latino may be of any race, so the ethnicity rows overlap with the race rows above and are reported separately.

American Community Survey estimates. Race and ethnicity are reported factually for research context and are never used as a compatibility or ranking factor.

Assessment

Strengths and limitations

Potential strengths

Walkability score of 81/100 on the nationally normalized scale.
Compact town form (compactness component 74/100), keeping everyday distances short.
5 Grocery stores within a 15-minute walk of the town center.
70% of occupied homes are owner-occupied.

Important limitations

Regional access requires a longer drive — about 59 minutes to Rapid City.
Walkability scores model street-network access to destinations; they do not confirm sidewalk coverage, crossings, or pedestrian safety.

Townsteading is a research tool, not a sales pitch. Nothing on this page is real-estate, financial, legal, safety, or relocation advice.

Provenance

Data and methodology

Townsteading score: 78.3 / 100
Confidence: High data confidence (96 / 100)
Profile data updated: July 26, 2026
Verification: Passes every published screening rule

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau Gazetteer Places. Vintage 2025 — identity, boundaries, coordinates.
U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates. Vintage 2025 — place population.
American Community Survey 5-year estimates. 2024 release, reference period 2020–2024 — housing, income, demographics.
OpenStreetMap. Street network and everyday destinations for walkability analysis.
OSRM routing. Modeled driving time to the nearest regional center; not live traffic.

Read the full methodology Report a correction

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