Loading
Assembling your view…
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
On a student budget, the math is brutal: loans, part-time income, zero margin. We ranked 1 cities in South Dakota on rent, food costs, and overall affordability. Sioux Falls leads with rent at $1,265/mo and a food index of 91.
| Rank | City | Cost Index | Median Rent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sioux Falls | 74 | $1,265 | Details |
#1 Ranked: Sioux Falls — cost index 74, rent $1,265/mo, income $74,714
Student-budget scoring: rent $1,265/mo, food index 91, cost index 74 — survival-level affordability
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
On a student budget, the math is brutal: loans, part-time income, zero margin. We ranked 1 cities in South Dakota on rent, food costs, and overall affordability. Sioux Falls leads with rent at $1,265/mo and a food index of 91.
Why Sioux Falls ranks #1: the numbers tell a clear story. At 74 on the cost index, residents save roughly 37% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,265/month — whether that matters depends on your situation — while the median household pulls in $74,714/year. The Housing category is particularly strong at 74, though Healthcare (95) lags behind. It lines up with what you'd expect. Home prices average $326,187 — $141,183 below the national median.
It checks most boxes — but the healthcare costs are the asterisk. In Sioux Falls, the healthcare index sits at 95 — not a dealbreaker, but worth knowing about.
The counter-argument is worth hearing: Here's the state-level backdrop: South Dakota averages a 74 cost index, $1,265/mo rent, and $74,714 income across 1 cities. That's $630 less than the national rent average. No income tax and Great Plains affordability — and that context shapes every city in this ranking.
Bottom line: Sioux Falls leads this ranking for clear, data-backed reasons — but the "best" city depends on your priorities. Click into any city below to see the full detail page with 12-month trend charts, profession-specific salary data, and a breakdown of all five cost categories. If you're seriously considering a move, use our salary calculator to model your specific income against these numbers.
206,410 residents · South Dakota
Why Sioux Falls ranks #1: the numbers tell a clear story. At 74 on the cost index, residents save roughly 37% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,265/month while the median household pulls in $74,714/year. The Housing category is particularly strong at 74, though Healthcare (95) lags behind. Home prices average $326,187 — $141,183 below the national median.
Our persona scoring model weights cost, income, rent, healthcare, taxes, and city size based on what matters most to students. Each factor scores 10-25 points out of a 100-point composite. The guide ranks every tracked city in South Dakota by this personalized metric. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Sioux Falls ranks #1 in South Dakota for this analysis with a cost index of 74 and median income of $74,714.
Sioux Falls scores highest for students due to its below-average cost of living, median rent of $1,265/mo, and competitive median income of $74,714.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Sioux Falls is $1,265/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $630 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Sioux Falls is $326,187, which is 4.4× the local median income. It's on the edge of affordability for median-income households. The national median home price is $467,370.
South Dakota has a 0% state income tax rate — one of the states with no income tax. Combined state and local sales tax averages 6.1%, and the effective property tax rate is 1.08%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.