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I've been doing some research on RC as a place to relocate. It seems ideal for me as I really like exploring the outdoors, don't really care for the big cities and don't need many amenities from the city I live in. I think it's a nice town and haven't found anything really negative other than its size and isolation from any big cities (which has its advantages).
I recently applied for a position there and when I inquired how the position came to be open, I was told the person wanted to relocate out of the area. They lost another person within this small department recently for the same reason.
This concerns me as it made me think that perhaps I'm missing something in my research that is causing people to leave the city. The job pays well enough for the area so I felt that was unlikely to be the cause. So I figure something bad must be happening in either RC itself , within the organization or it's all just a coincidence.
I thought I'd reach to the folks here to see if there's anything amiss in RC that would be driving people away.
There's no mass exodus. People move away on a regular basis. It is usually career related. Mainly that opportunities outside the area pay much better or it is the next move in their career.
The other factor is the airbase. Spouse is transferred to a new duty station and the family moves.
The statistics show that Pennington County has steady population growth so I don't think you need to be concerned about and significant migration of people out of the city/county. I do think some people move here for a job or for recreation opportunities and find out that's it's not a good fit so they move on. And the comment about the airbase transfers and people leaving for professional growth is also very accurate.
I moved here 3 1/2 years ago for two reasons, I had a good job opportunity that would advance my career and the abundance of outdoor recreation opportunities. It's not likely I would have moved here for just one of those two reason but together they sealed the deal. It's been a good fit for me and my family. I think Rapid City is about the perfect sized town and the fact that it is the largest town for hours in any direction means it has a lot more amenities that similar sized cities across the U.S. The major downside, as you pointed out, is that it's just so far from any major metro. The drive to Denver isn't terrible, but I do wish it was only 2-3 hours instead of 6. But you can't have everything in life.
Salaries and wages are on the lower end of the spectrum. Housing isn't cheap.
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