About Rapid City:
A lifestyle with something for everyone is as much a part of Rapid City as the tree-covered mountains that shelter its 310 miles of wide, paved streets, or, the friendly, western personality that quickly becomes a part of any new visitor or resident. In this generous land where an endless prairie meets captivating mountains, a person can explore the freedoms of living as a cowboy or sophisticated city dweller. And, in the 100 plus years that Rapid Citians have been living in and improving their community, the entire area provides ample facilities to make the choice easy and fulfilling.

Locals call Rapid City the Banana Belt, as it has one of the mildest climates in the Midwest. Protected by the beautiful Black Hills, Rapid City residents enjoy low humidity levels and infrequent precipitation. Extreme temperatures, either cold or hot, are very rare.

Perhaps one of the more subtle but pleasant advantages of moving to Rapid City is its climate. While the Dakotas have been tagged as the breeding ground for icy blizzards and scorching summers, it simply isn't so in Rapid City. Protected by 6,000 and 7,000 foot peaks in the Black Hills, Rapid City enjoys an envious climatic location. Summers are warm, but dry, with a long pleasant fall season. Temperatures can be mild even in the winter months. January 1992 had a high temperature of 74o F. The temperature dips below 0o F an average of only 21 days each year. On this page are charts that show Rapid City's humidity and climatic averages.

Rapid City is divided into four main areas named by local according to compass direction. South Robbinsdale and North Rapid City make up the bulk of the community's area with the Downtown core separating these neighborhoods. West Rapid is a sprawling, primarily residential neighborhood found "through the gap" created by a scenic and natural barrier of Skyline Drive and Cowboy Hill. Wide traffic arteries provide easy access between the neighborhoods. Schools, churches, shopping centers and other services are well located throughout the city, and the greenbelt that follows Rapid Creek through town makes a seven-mile-long park never more than a few minutes from any home.

Rapid City Regional Hospital is one of Rapid City's largest employers and it is the region's major medical referral center. Serving a population base of 320,000, Rapid City Regional Hospital provides advanced health care for Western South Dakota, and parts of North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska. The Hospital's commitment to providing advanced medical services to Rapid City and the surrounding region has never been stronger. Rapid City Regional Hospital and Black Hills Rehabilitation Hospital employ over 2200 people. Over the past several years, the Hospitals have added new programs and enhanced various existing services. The Cardiovascular Surgery services, Cancer Care services, Diagnostic Imaging services, Mobile CT Scanning, Laser Surgery, Neonatal Intensive Care, Air Ambulance, Dialysis, Psychiatric and Chemical Dependency, and Sleep Disorders Center and Rehabilitation Programs are some of the services offered by the Hospital. The Black Hills Regional Eye Institute opened in 1983 as a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to providing the most modern and complex eye care for the people of this region. Over 35,000 patient visits are recorded each year and over 3,000 eye surgeries are performed at the Medicare certified Eye Surgery Center. The Institute physicians and staff travel to eleven satellite clinics throughout the five state area served to provide treatment of eye problems within the local communities.

Text source: Rapid City Area Economic Development