2025 Tourism Economic Impact
In honor of National Travel and Tourism Week May 3-9, Visit Rapid City is delighted to share that 3.93 million visitors spent $527.3 million in Rapid City in 2025.
“Rapid City saw increases in nearly every visitor category in 2025,” said Ally Formanek, CEO of Visit Rapid City. “With record-breaking spending of $527.3 million, it’s no surprise that tourism continues to be a strong economic engine in Rapid.”
Travel plays an important role in the U.S., South Dakota, and Rapid City, with major contributions to the economy. Key 2025 statistics for Rapid City include:
- Rapid City welcomed 3.93 million visitors (an increase of 1.4% from 2024).
- In Rapid City, visitors spent $527.3 million (up from $504 million in 2024).
- Visitor spending generated $776.2 million in total economic impact (up from $762 million in 2024).
- Tourism supported 7,704 total jobs (up from 7,613 in 2024), which equates to 9.6% of all jobs in Rapid City.
- Visitor spending supported 1 in 10 jobs in Rapid City (including 2,319 jobs in the food and beverage industry).
- Visitors to Rapid City generated nearly $55.5 million in state and local taxes (up from $53.7 million in 2024). Without this tax generation, each household in Rapid City would pay an additional $1,700 to replace visitor-generated taxes.
- In Rapid City, visitors spent the most money on food and beverage ($157 million), lodging ($156.4 million), retail ($89.4 million), transportation ($76 million) and recreation ($48.5 million).
- There were 2.1 million day visitors to Rapid City, representing 53.1% of all visitors. There were 1.8 million overnight visitors to Rapid City, which accounted for 46.9% of all visitors and 76.4% of total visitor spending.
- In Rapid City, the tourism economy generated $117 million in government revenues.
The last time Rapid City welcomed 3.93 million visitors was in 2021.
“Here in Rapid City, we see the expansive reach and impact of the tourism industry,” added Formanek. “The tourism economy has the power to grow local offerings and contribute to our quality of life, from Main Street Square to new restaurants and events.”
Looking ahead to the coming months, Rapid City has several events planned, including the reopening of the visitor center May 4, a new walking tour downtown starting May 11, the opening day for the fountains at Main Street Square on May 22 and the Real America Birthday Bash, July 1-4.
Visit Rapid City markets and promotes Rapid City through a variety of strategic efforts, including paid advertising, social media, website, content marketing, newsletters, meetings + conventions, sporting events, public relations and more.
Learn more about Visit Rapid City at visitrapidcity.com.
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About Visit Rapid City
Visit Rapid City is the official marketing organization for Rapid City and promotes leisure travel, meetings and conventions, and sporting events to Rapid City and the Black Hills area. More information can be found at VisitRapidCity.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest or discover images and content with #VisitRapidCity.
Visit Rapid City Media Contact:
Tia Troy
tia@lightningbugpublicrelations.com
406.529.8314