RAPID CITY, S.D. — Rapid City’s population has seen a spike. At the end of 2024, their population was 84,930, a boost from the estimate of 82,418 at the end of 2023. Kelly Brennan is a long-range planner for Rapid City, and she says this spike is the second largest one for Rapid City since 2000.”‘It’s a pretty big jump and one of the contributors to this population increase, more building permits were issued for single-family and multifamily residential” said Brennan.

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She says a population spike is a chance for Rapid City planners to evaluate housing needs.”As planners have to look at when we see these population increases, is additional housing needs, and potentially infrastructure needs as well,” said Brennan.She also says one of the benefits of the population spike is that it could bring economic growth and market expansion.”Different kinds of restaurants, different kinds of stores can come in and have those opportunities. Some of them kind of need to see a certain amount of population before they’ll consider moving their business into our town. So we do see that as a pro to the population, gain. The more money that’s being spent in our area, the more property taxes with those housing units that are being built,” said Brennan.Brennan says the population data will be taken into account for long-term planning in Rapid City, including for transportation and more.

By
Melissa Alexis

Melissa grew up in NYC and is a graduate of NC State University with a degree in Communication and Media. Go Pack!