Welcome to Box Elder ...

The city of Box Elder is primarily located in Pennington County<1>. A portion of Box Elder extends into Meade County.

The location of Box Elder has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (the GNIS).<2>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Box Elder, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1907.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Box Elder has a population of 10,175 people<3> (see below for details).

Box Elder is 3,110 feet [948 m] above sea level.<4> In other words, the elevation of Box Elder is about ½ mile above sea level.

Time Zone: Box Elder lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time

Box Elder is within the (605) area code.

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Box Elder had an population of 10,175 people. This is an increase of 30.45% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 258.15% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Box Elder had a population of 7,800 people (or 7.7% of the total population of Pennington County). This makes Box Elder the county's 3rd most populous community.

The population of Box Elder represents 0.96% of the population of South Dakota (which has 814,180 people), making it the state's 16th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 7,800 people, the population of Box Elder increased 174.55% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 2,841 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Box Elder.

Communities Also Named Box Elder ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 9 communities that are also named Box Elder - they are located in Colorado, Montana (4), Nebraska, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Box Elder.

Communities near Box Elder ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Box Elder.

• Rapid City
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapid City
  • Rapid City is located in Pennington County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 78,864 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rapid City <5>
• Summerset
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerset
  • Summerset is located in Meade County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,691 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Summerset <5>
• Piedmont
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piedmont
  • Piedmont is located in Meade County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 895 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Piedmont <5>
• New Underwood
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Underwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Underwood
  • New Underwood is located in Pennington County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 679 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Underwood <5>
• Johnson Siding
  (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnson Siding
  • Johnson Siding is located in Pennington County
  • Population from the 2010 Census: 659 people
• South Canyon Country Estates
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Canyon Country Estates have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Canyon Country Estates
  • South Canyon Country Estates is located in Pennington County
  • Population from the 2010 Census: 364 people
• Sioux Village
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sioux Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sioux Village
  • Sioux Village is located in Pennington County
  • Estimated population in 2014: 262 people
• Rockerville
  (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockerville
  • Rockerville is located in Pennington County
  • Estimated population in 2014: 144 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rockerville <5>
• Stratosphere Bowl
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stratosphere Bowl have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stratosphere Bowl
  • Stratosphere Bowl is located in Pennington County
  • Estimated population in 2014: 72 people
• Wildwood Addition
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wildwood Addition have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildwood Addition
  • Wildwood Addition is located in Pennington County
  • Estimated population in 2014: 55 people

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Box Elder. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Box Elder.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Box Elder. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Box Elder.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Box Elder. See our Newspapers Page for Box Elder.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Box Elder ...

Looking for more information about Box Elder? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Box Elder, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Box Elder.

Adding Box Elder to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Box Elder in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Box Elder was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Box Elder post office opened in 1907.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Box Elder.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Box Elder. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Pennington County: www.co.pennington.sd.us/

The official website for State of South Dakota: https://www.sd.gov/