Box Elder is a somewhat small city located in the state of South Dakota. With a population of 12,581 people and two associated neighborhoods, Box Elder is the 11th largest community in South Dakota. There's nothing like the smell of a brand new house, and in Box Elder, you'll find that a large proportion of houses were recently built. New growth in residential real estate is an indication that people are choosing to move to Box Elder, and putting down their money on brand new construction. Box Elder’s real estate is, on average, some of the newest in the nation. Box Elder does seem to be experiencing an influx of affluent people, because the median household income is $69,153.00.

Box Elder is a military town: the armed forces employs 10.17% of the workforce, making the military a major focus of life in the city. In the civilian sector, Healthcare and Retail are important in the local economy and are the city’s largest civilian employers, employing 18.09% and 12.84% of the civilian workforce respectively.

Box Elder is also a college town, where lots of students live while attending area colleges. Because of the high percentage of people living in Box Elder enrolled in college, Box Elder has a number of services, amenities and opportunities geared towards the needs and activities of students.

The citizens of Box Elder are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 34.72% of adults in Box Elder have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Box Elder in 2022 was $27,308, which is lower middle income relative to South Dakota and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $109,232 for a family of four. However, Box Elder contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Box Elder is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Box Elder home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Box Elder residents report their race to be White, followed by Native American. Important ancestries of people in Box Elder include German, Irish, English, European, and Scottish.

The most common language spoken in Box Elder is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and Spanish.