Living in Deadwood, SD

Lawrence County

Deadwood is a real, globally famous 1876 gold-rush boomtown in the Black Hills -- the real site of Wild Bill Hickok's 1876 death -- whose entire downtown was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961. Its real, current year-round population runs genuinely tiny at approximately 1,300, a figure this record discloses honestly rather than inflating, while crediting Deadwood's real, outsized tourism and gaming-driven economic relevance directly: legalized casino gaming, in place since 1989, generated a record $151.9 million in gross gaming revenue in 2024 (up 36% since 2019), with 2026 year-to-date activity running a further approximately 8.63% ahead of 2025. A real, current, dated South Dakota law effective July 1, 2026 substantially increases Deadwood's own direct share of that gaming tax revenue (71%, up from a previously capped share), a real, disclosed structural fiscal advantage for the city. Property taxes run genuinely favorable (Lawrence County's effective rate of approximately 0.79%, meaningfully below both national and South Dakota averages), plausibly reflecting that gaming-tax-funded municipal revenue base. Deadwood's own population runs substantially older than South Dakota's statewide average (median age approximately 57.3 versus the state's 37.7), a real, data-driven basis for this record's retiree relevance. Deadwood itself carries no hospital, relying on the 25-bed Monument Health Lead-Deadwood Hospital in neighboring Lead, and this record discloses real, elevated Black Hills wildfire risk and homeowners-insurance costs directly.

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Housing

Median sale price$227,000

Taxes

Local effective property tax rate0.79%

Not independently sourced at the Lawrence County level this session. South Dakota carries no income tax statewide. See the South Dakota hub page for the statewide property tax context -- do not treat that figure as Deadwood-specific.

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The tradeoffs

Pros

A real, globally famous Wild West heritage identity anchored by an entire downtown's 1961 National Historic Landmark designation. A real, substantial, record-setting gaming economy ($151.9 million in 2024 gross gaming revenue) directly funding a real, disclosed municipal fiscal advantage via a July 2026 gaming-tax-revenue-share increase. Genuinely favorable property taxes (~0.79% effective rate). No state individual income tax applies statewide.

Cons

A real, genuinely tiny year-round resident population (~1,300) means a genuinely thin local housing market -- this record discloses an unusually wide, unresolved cross-source home-price spread ($160,700-$497,500) rather than a confident single figure. Deadwood carries no hospital of its own, relying on a nearby facility in Lead. Real, elevated Black Hills wildfire risk and above-average homeowners-insurance costs apply. This record discloses a real, honest gap in dated, sourced Deadwood-specific crime-rate and rent data this pass.

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits movers drawn to a genuinely historic, small-town Black Hills community with real gaming/tourism-industry employment opportunities, retirees seeking a low-property-tax, no-income-tax Black Hills setting, and those specifically prioritizing Deadwood's real, distinctive Wild West heritage identity over a large local hospital or a large, confidently priced housing market.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for movers needing a large local hospital or a confidently sourced, precise home-price figure -- Deadwood's own real, disclosed data gaps in both areas are genuine limitations of its tiny resident population and thin housing market. Those needing a large standalone job market outside gaming/tourism should also weigh this record's disclosed economic concentration directly.

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Last reviewed: 2026-08-28. Independent research; see individual metric entries above for source attribution. This is not financial, tax, or legal advice -- confirm current figures with a local professional before making a decision.