Cost of living in South Dakota

South Dakota at a glance

Median rent

$946

Census ACS, B25064, monthly

Median household income

$75,081

Census ACS, B19013, yearly

Median home value

$257,400

Census ACS, B25077

Median property tax bill

$2,724

Census ACS, B25103, yearly, current owners

Mean commute

18 min

Census ACS, DP03, one way

Unemployment

2.9%

Census ACS, DP03

South Dakota's own published state rows, never an average of its counties. Prices overall run 11% below the national average (BEA regional price parity, 2024).

Figures from the 2024 release of the Census American Community Survey, checked September 2026. Health, hazard and price-level readings name their own release beside them.

The three most populous counties in South Dakota

These are the most populous places in South Dakota, not a match to you. Set what matters to you on Find your fit and this becomes your three closest matches here. Made-up answers work too. This is a tool, not a survey.

• Minnehaha County

  Population

  203K

  Rent

  $978

  Household income

  $76,880

  Prop. tax (yearly)

  $3,281

  Set as targetPlan

• Pennington County

  Population

  114K

  Rent

  $1,120

  Household income

  $74,517

  Prop. tax (yearly)

  $3,265

  Set as targetPlan

• Lincoln County

  Population

  70.6K

  Rent

  $1,260

  Household income

  $99,166

  Prop. tax (yearly)

  $3,990

  Set as targetPlan

South Dakota, worth the trip

Admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889, as the 40th state. France sold the area to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, long before the Dakota Territory was created in 1861. A search for gold in the Black Hills in the early 1870s drew thousands of settlers.

• Badlands National Park

  Layered rock with rich fossil beds and mixed-grass prairie where bison, bighorn sheep and prairie dogs live.

• Mount Rushmore National Memorial

  The carved figures of Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Lincoln in the Black Hills.

• Wind Cave National Park

  One of the longest and most complex caves in the world, under prairie where bison and elk roam.

History: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Each place links to the page of the agency that looks after it.

Property tax in South Dakota

Current owners in South Dakota pay a median 1.06% of home value a year in property tax. Example: $2,724 a year, the median bill. By county, the median bill runs from $916 in Faulk County to $3,990 in Lincoln County. These are bills that current owners pay, as the Census measures them. Each county's own figure is in the table below.

Health in South Dakota

Life expectancy

76.8 yrs

County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS vital statistics

No health insurance

10.0%

County Health Rankings, from Census SAHIE, people under 65

Poor or fair health

14.3%

County Health Rankings, from CDC BRFSS. Modeled, not counted

Injury deaths per 100K people

88

County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS, counted deaths

Each is the figure County Health Rankings publishes for South Dakota as a whole, never an average of its counties. Each county's own health readings are on its page.

Natural hazards in South Dakota

Expected yearly loss, statewide

$768M

All natural hazards, an average year. Larger states lose more

Building loss rate

$1.49

Per $1,000 of building value, each year. Fair to compare between states

Costliest hazard

Inland flooding

$274M of the expected yearly loss, the largest share of any hazard FEMA assesses

Air quality

—

The EPA publishes air quality by county and metro area, never by state. It is on each county's page

FEMA publishes a risk score for counties and none for states, so none is shown here. Each county's score is on its own page.

Side by side

Minnehaha County, SD is the largest county here. Set it beside another place, reading by reading.

All 66 counties in South Dakota

Each has its published readings on its own page. Press a column to sort by it. Pick one, or open the map to see them shaded side by side.

Household income, home value and population are on each county's own page, and in this table on a wider screen.

Where these numbers come from

Each reading is the published figure, not an estimate. A dash means the source did not publish one, or published one too uncertain to print.

• State figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 20245-year estimates, the state's own row (tables B25064, B19013, B25077, B25103, B01003, DP03).
• County figures: the same survey, each county's own row, as on every county page.
• Price level: Bureau of Economic Analysis, regional price parities, 2024, all items, state-level.
• Health: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025, University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, the state's own row. Poor or fair health is a modeled estimate from CDC survey data. The other three are counted or calculated.
• Natural hazards: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025, state table, expected annual loss. This product uses FEMA data but is not endorsed by FEMA.
• Air quality has no state figure: the EPA publishes it by county and metro area only.
• Photographs: Wikimedia Commons and the county photo feed, each credited to its photographer under its own licence, beneath the picture.