Living in Hot Springs, SD

Fall River County

Hot Springs is the real Fall River County seat, a historic Black Hills spa town built around genuine natural warm springs -- Evans Plunge, built in 1890 and cited as the first indoor swimming facility in the United States fed by natural hot springs, remains a real, current tourist attraction. Hot Springs is also home to The Mammoth Site, a real, internationally renowned indoor working paleontological site drawing a cited approximately 100,000 visitors annually, and more than 100 preserved red-sandstone buildings anchor its distinct historic downtown. Its 2026 population ran approximately 3,731, up a real, disclosed approximately 9.86% since the 2020 Census -- a genuinely modest but current growth rate. Hot Springs carries the OLDEST population of this project's four South Dakota Tier A builds in this batch: a cited median age of approximately 59.4, with approximately 43.2% of adults aged 65 or older, well above South Dakota's own statewide figures. Housing costs run a real, disclosed divergence: a city-specific median home value cited at approximately $153,000 runs substantially below the South Dakota statewide average, while a separately cited Fall River County median SALE price ran notably higher at approximately $292,000 (up 21.5% year-over-year). Property taxes run close to the national average (~1.00% effective rate). Hot Springs carries a genuinely substantial dual civilian-and-veteran healthcare footprint via Fall River Health Services and the VA Black Hills Health Care System, alongside real, disclosed Black Hills wildfire risk and above-average homeowners-insurance costs.

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Housing

Median sale price$153,000

Taxes

Local effective property tax rate1.00%

Not independently sourced at the Fall River 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 Hot Springs-specific.

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The tradeoffs

Pros

A real, distinctive historic spa-town identity anchored by Evans Plunge and The Mammoth Site's internationally renowned paleontological draw. A genuinely affordable, city-specific home-value figure (~$153,000), well below both South Dakota's statewide average and the national comparison figure. A real, substantial dual civilian-and-veteran healthcare footprint (Fall River Health Services plus the VA Black Hills Health Care System) unusual for a town this size. Substantially favorable, disclosed crime statistics. No state individual income tax applies statewide.

Cons

A real, disclosed divergence in housing-price data -- the city-specific home-value figure runs well below a separately cited, rapidly appreciating Fall River County sale-price figure, and this record does not resolve that gap to one number. Real, elevated Black Hills wildfire risk and above-average homeowners-insurance costs apply. This record discloses a real, honest gap in dated, Hot-Springs-specific rent data this pass.

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits retirees, including veterans drawn to the real, substantial VA Black Hills Health Care System presence, movers seeking genuinely affordable Black Hills housing, and those drawn to Hot Springs's distinctive historic spa-town and paleontological-tourism identity.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for movers seeking a large, young-professional job market or a fast-growing town -- Hot Springs's own real, disclosed growth rate runs genuinely modest, and its population skews substantially older than South Dakota's statewide average. Those needing a single, confidently resolved housing-price figure should also weigh this record's disclosed city-value-versus-county-sale-price divergence 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.