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Cost & Benefits

Most affordable towns in South Dakota, 2026

Brandon is the most affordable ranked town in South Dakota. Rent, the regional price level, taxes, and electricity are 22.5% each. Gasoline is 10%. A lower score is more affordable.

Summary

19
Towns ranked in South Dakota.
Brandon
Number 1 in South Dakota. Rent is 10.6% of income. National rank 27.
16.9%
Median rent share among ranked towns in South Dakota.
6
Ranked South Dakota towns in the national top 100.
Box Elder
Least affordable ranked town in South Dakota. Rent is 24.5% of income. National rank 1648.

Gasoline

$4.237

per gallon. EIA does not publish a South Dakota price. This is the Midwest (PADD 2) price for the week of October 12, 2026. At 12,000 miles a year and 25 mpg, that is $2,033.76 a year for every ranked town in South Dakota.

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Cost & Benefits. "2026 Most Affordable Towns Index: South Dakota." October 16, 2026. https://costandbenefits.com/reports/most-affordable-towns-2026/south-dakota

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National index · Press · How we count

Benefits and taxes in South Dakota

Top 25

South Dakota has 19 ranked towns, so this is the full list.

  1. #1 in South Dakota · National #27

    Brandon

    Rent share 10.6% · Price level 90.6 · Score 0.159

    Median rent is $976 a month and median income is $110,806, so rent is 10.6% of income, under the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The Sioux Falls, SD-MN metro price level is 90.6 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is rent share and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  2. #2 in South Dakota · National #30

    Tea

    Rent share 12.2% · Price level 90.6 · Score 0.161

    Median rent is $1,220 a month and median income is $120,139, so rent is 12.2% of income, under the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The Sioux Falls, SD-MN metro price level is 90.6 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is rent share and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  3. #3 in South Dakota · National #40

    Yankton

    Rent share 14.0% · Price level 88.6 · Score 0.165

    Median rent is $790 a month and median income is $67,804, so rent is 14.0% of income, under the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The South Dakota state price level is 88.6 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is regional price level and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  4. #4 in South Dakota · National #48

    Aberdeen

    Rent share 14.2% · Price level 88.6 · Score 0.168

    Median rent is $762 a month and median income is $64,405, so rent is 14.2% of income, under the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The South Dakota state price level is 88.6 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is regional price level and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  5. #5 in South Dakota · National #49

    Pierre

    Rent share 15.2% · Price level 88.6 · Score 0.169

    Median rent is $983 a month and median income is $77,672, so rent is 15.2% of income, under the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The South Dakota state price level is 88.6 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is regional price level and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  6. #6 in South Dakota · National #73

    Harrisburg

    Rent share 15.0% · Price level 90.6 · Score 0.178

    Median rent is $1,362 a month and median income is $108,724, so rent is 15.0% of income, under the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The Sioux Falls, SD-MN metro price level is 90.6 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is rent share and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  7. #7 in South Dakota · National #106

    Watertown

    Rent share 16.2% · Price level 88.6 · Score 0.189

    Median rent is $942 a month and median income is $69,600, so rent is 16.2% of income, under the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The South Dakota state price level is 88.6 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is regional price level and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  8. #8 in South Dakota · National #116

    Huron

    Rent share 17.3% · Price level 88.6 · Score 0.193

    Median rent is $888 a month and median income is $61,452, so rent is 17.3% of income, over the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The South Dakota state price level is 88.6 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is regional price level and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  9. #9 in South Dakota · National #141

    Rapid Valley

    Rent share 16.9% · Price level 89.2 · Score 0.199

    Median rent is $1,174 a month and median income is $83,208, so rent is 16.9% of income, even with the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The Rapid City, SD metro price level is 89.2 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is regional price level and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  10. #10 in South Dakota · National #181

    Mitchell

    Rent share 17.4% · Price level 88.6 · Score 0.208

    Median rent is $851 a month and median income is $58,620, so rent is 17.4% of income, over the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The South Dakota state price level is 88.6 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is regional price level and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  11. #11 in South Dakota · National #193

    Madison

    Rent share 17.9% · Price level 88.6 · Score 0.211

    Median rent is $981 a month and median income is $65,593, so rent is 17.9% of income, over the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The South Dakota state price level is 88.6 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is regional price level and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  12. #12 in South Dakota · National #197

    Sioux Falls

    Rent share 16.3% · Price level 90.6 · Score 0.213

    Median rent is $1,035 a month and median income is $75,970, so rent is 16.3% of income, under the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The Sioux Falls, SD-MN metro price level is 90.6 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is regional price level and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  13. #13 in South Dakota · National #204

    Brookings

    Rent share 16.8% · Price level 88.6 · Score 0.214

    Median rent is $889 a month and median income is $63,493, so rent is 16.8% of income, under the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The South Dakota state price level is 88.6 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is regional price level and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  14. #14 in South Dakota · National #254

    Belle Fourche

    Rent share 18.1% · Price level 88.6 · Score 0.224

    Median rent is $983 a month and median income is $65,071, so rent is 18.1% of income, over the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The South Dakota state price level is 88.6 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is regional price level and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  15. #15 in South Dakota · National #309

    Sturgis

    Rent share 17.2% · Price level 89.2 · Score 0.234

    Median rent is $780 a month and median income is $54,404, so rent is 17.2% of income, over the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The Rapid City, SD metro price level is 89.2 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is regional price level and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  16. #16 in South Dakota · National #350

    Spearfish

    Rent share 17.6% · Price level 88.6 · Score 0.240

    Median rent is $963 a month and median income is $65,688, so rent is 17.6% of income, over the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The South Dakota state price level is 88.6 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is regional price level and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  17. #17 in South Dakota · National #366

    Vermillion

    Rent share 18.2% · Price level 88.6 · Score 0.241

    Median rent is $764 a month and median income is $50,456, so rent is 18.2% of income, over the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The South Dakota state price level is 88.6 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is regional price level and its heaviest mark is gasoline price.

  18. #18 in South Dakota · National #482

    Rapid City

    Rent share 18.8% · Price level 89.2 · Score 0.254

    Median rent is $1,109 a month and median income is $70,870, so rent is 18.8% of income, over the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The Rapid City, SD metro price level is 89.2 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is regional price level and its heaviest mark is rent share.

  19. #19 in South Dakota · National #1648

    Box Elder

    Rent share 24.5% · Price level 89.2 · Score 0.346

    Median rent is $1,491 a month and median income is $73,008, so rent is 24.5% of income, over the 16.9% median for ranked towns in South Dakota. The Rapid City, SD metro price level is 89.2 (U.S. = 100). Residential electricity is 15.37 cents per kWh. Gasoline is $4.237 a gallon (Midwest (PADD 2)). Among ranked U.S. towns, its lightest mark is regional price level and its heaviest mark is rent share.

Least affordable 10

Every ranked town in South Dakota is already in the list above.

The formula

A lower score is more affordable. Rent share, the regional price level, taxes, and electricity each count 22.5%. Gasoline counts 10%. Those weights are our choice. Gasoline stays at 10% because the miles figure is one national standard, not a measured town commute. This is not a government standard.

A percentile is the share of ranked towns with a strictly lower number, divided by the number of ranked towns minus one. The lowest number scores 0. Tied numbers share a percentile.

  1. Rent share = (median monthly rent × 12) / median household income. Both figures are the Census 2020–2024 medians for that place.
  2. RPP-adjusted cost is the BEA 2024 all-items regional price parity. A basket priced at 100 for the U.S. average costs this many dollars in the town's area. We use the metro index when the county is in a metro BEA publishes. Otherwise we use the state index and say so. This index includes housing, so housing also shows up in the rent share.
  3. Tax burden is the average of three percentiles. Income-tax share is state income tax plus the stored 2023 local AGI add-on, divided by the town's median household income, on a joint return. Property share is the state's median effective property-tax rate times the town's median home value, divided by income. Sales rate is the combined state and average local sales-tax rate. We do not turn the sales rate into dollars, because that would require a shopping basket we do not have.
  4. Electricity is the state residential price in cents per kilowatt-hour. Every town in a state shares it. We do not guess how many kilowatt-hours a home uses.
  5. Gasoline is the EIA retail price for all grades and all formulations, in dollars per gallon. Where EIA publishes a state series, we use that state. Every other state uses the PADD region EIA assigns to it. Census does not publish commuting miles for these towns, so annual gas spend is 12,000 miles a year divided by 25 miles per gallon, times the price. That is 480 gallons, the same for every town. Those miles are our standard, not an ACS figure and not a government mileage rule. Because the gallons do not change, the gas percentile is the percentile of the price.

    Weekly prices are for the week of October 12, 2026, from the EIA workbook released October 14, 2026. File: https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/gasdiesel/xls/pswrgvwall.xls. Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, and Oregon use West Coast (PADD 5) Except California. That series is not in the weekly workbook, so those five use the monthly price dated September 15, 2026. File: https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pri_gnd_a_epm0_pte_dpgal_m.htm.

    • State series, week of October 12, 2026: California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Texas, Washington.
    • Central Atlantic (PADD 1B), week of October 12, 2026: Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania.
    • Gulf Coast (PADD 3), week of October 12, 2026: Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico.
    • Lower Atlantic (PADD 1C), week of October 12, 2026: Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia.
    • Midwest (PADD 2), week of October 12, 2026: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin.
    • New England (PADD 1A), week of October 12, 2026: Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont.
    • Rocky Mountain (PADD 4), week of October 12, 2026: Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming.
    • West Coast (PADD 5) Except California, September 15, 2026: Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon.

Score = 0.225 × rent percentile + 0.225 × price-level percentile + 0.225 × tax score + 0.225 × electricity percentile + 0.10 × gasoline percentile. Rank 1 is the lowest score. If scores tie, the lower rent share wins, then the lower price level, then the place slug in A-to-Z order.

Questions

What is the most affordable town in South Dakota in this index?

Brandon is number 1 of 19 ranked towns in South Dakota. Median rent is 10.6% of median income. Its national rank is 27.

How many towns in South Dakota were ranked?

19 towns in South Dakota have at least 5,000 people and published Census rent, income, and home value. Places missing one of those figures are left out.

Does this ranking approve benefits in South Dakota?

No. Cost & Benefits does not approve or deny benefits. The score is a cost comparison only.