What tax do you pay in South Dakota?
Tax year 2026
South Dakota has no state income tax at all. Your salary is not taxed by the state. Shops charge 6.11% in sales tax as well, once state and local are added up.
South Dakota imposes no state individual income tax on wage income. Combined state and local sales tax reaches 6.11% at the representative rate. ⚠️ Both figures are computed rather than quoted, and every input below carries its source and as-of date.
Income tax on $75,000
0%
rank 43 of 51
Combined sales tax
6.11%
rank 36 of 51
South Dakota does not charge a state income tax at all.
South Dakota levies no state income tax for 2026.
Taxable income basis: the state's own definition of taxable income (ownBase).
Sales tax
South Dakota's state sales tax is 4.2%. Add local taxes on top and the real number moves. It ranges from 6.11% in Statewide average up to 6.2% in Minnehaha County (Sioux Falls).
State rate: about 4.2%. Combined with local add-ons, the range across loaded counties runs about 6.11% (Statewide average) to about 6.2% (Minnehaha County (Sioux Falls)).
| Category | Treatment |
|---|---|
| Groceries | Full rate (100% of the combined rate) |
| Prescription drugs | Exempt (0% of the combined rate) |
| Clothing | Full rate (100% of the combined rate) |
Property tax
Property tax in South Dakota sits in the middle of the pack. The effective rate is 1.06% of a home's value — rank 18 nationally.
South Dakota carries an effective property tax rate of about 1.06% of market value, ranking 18 nationally — mid-distribution, against an unweighted mean across the fifty-one jurisdictions of about 0.94%.
A typical home here is worth $257,400.00, and the typical yearly bill is $2,724.00. Put the same $440,600.00 house here and it would cost $4,663 $4,662.87 a year to hold. That is money you pay every year you own it, not once.
Median owner-occupied home value is $257,400 with a median annual real estate tax of $2,724. Applying this state's effective rate to the site's reference price of $440,600 gives $4,663 a year — the two figures answer different questions, since the median bill blends the rate with local price levels while the reference bill isolates the jurisdiction. This is an effective rate, tax paid divided by market value, and not a nominal millage against an assessed value; the two are different quantities. A statewide ratio of medians also describes no particular address, so an individual county or property can sit well away from it.
US Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates, tables B25103 (Median Real Estate Taxes Paid) and B25077 (Median Value, owner-occupied). ACS 5-year estimates covering 2020–2024, so the as-of date (2024-12-31) is the end of the estimation window rather than a measurement date. Last verified 2026-08-29.
Other costs to know about
Buying a home in South Dakota means paying a real estate transfer tax. On a $440,600.00 home — the national median — that comes to about $441 $440.60.
Real estate transfer tax on a $440,600 home (NAR's June 2026 national median): $441 $440.60.
Source: S.D. Codified Laws §43-4-21 — 0.1% real estate transfer fee, as of 2025-01-01.
Stay in a hotel in South Dakota and the state adds about 5.7% to the room rate. Cities and counties add their own on top, and that part is often the bigger one.
State-level lodging tax: about 5.7%, combining the state lodging levy, sales tax where it reaches rooms, and any statewide assessment.
The state's own share only. Local occupancy taxes are set by cities and counties and are excluded here.
Every phone line in South Dakota carries a $2.00 monthly charge for emergency services. It is a flat amount per line, so it costs a family with several phones more than the rate on the bill suggests.
State emergency-services surcharge: $2.00 per line per month, levied as a fixed charge rather than as a share of the bill.
Counties may levy their own emergency-services charge on top, and wireless bills carry further federal and state surcharges.
Leasing a car in South Dakota is taxed up front on the whole value of the car, not month by month. That lands as a large bill at signing rather than a little each month.
Vehicle leases are taxed up front on the full value rather than on the payment stream, so the liability crystallises at inception.
No local rate applies to a lease here.
South Dakota charges no state income tax at all — one of only 9 states nationwide that don't; the others are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. The combined state and local sales tax rate in Statewide average is 6.11%, lower than most states' combined sales tax rates (36th of 51) — on a $40,000 car purchase, that's about $2,440 in sales tax alone, on top of whatever income tax was already paid to earn the money in the first place. With no income tax, South Dakota leans more heavily on sales tax to fund state government than most states do — worth knowing if you're comparing the true cost of living here against a state that does the opposite. Every purchase priced out on this site for South Dakota uses these same verified, cited, South Dakota-specific figures for both layers — never a national average quietly standing in for the real number.
What lands in your account
A $75,000 salary
| Take-home, year | $61,593 |
|---|---|
| Tax, year | $13,408 |
| Share of pay taxed | 17.88% |
This is an average rate across all your pay — not the rate on your next dollar.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- Yours$61,593
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| Yours82.12% | $61,593 |
How this state ranks, at this income
A $75,000 salary
| Take-home in South Dakota | $61,593 |
|---|---|
| Rank once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | 1st of 51 |
| Most take-home at this income | South Dakota · $61,593 |
| Best once prices are leveled | South Dakota |
State income tax only — no city or county income tax is applied to any state here.
Property tax on a home here
A $75,000 salary
| State effective rate | 1.06% |
|---|---|
| Median home in this state | $257,400 |
| Median tax actually paid | $2,724 |
| Rate rank, highest first | 18th of 51 |
| Pay needed to cover it | $3,872 |
A statewide average effective rate. Your town, county and school district set the real bill.
Explore more about pay, taxes and comparisons in South Dakota
What changed in South Dakota
A $75,000 salary
No tax law changes recorded for this state in this period.
South Dakota against Texas
A $75,000 salary
| Measure | South Dakota | Texas |
|---|---|---|
| Take-home pay | $61,593 | $61,593 |
| Worth after local prices | $69,916 | $63,383 |
| Share of pay taxed | 17.88% | 17.88% |
| State sales tax | 4.2% | 6.25% |
| Groceries exempt here | No | Yes |
| Clothing exempt at $100 | No | No |
| Property tax rate | 1.06% | 1.49% |
| Price level | 88.1 | 97.2 |
| Housing prices | 64.9 | 97.4 |
| Fuel tax | 28¢ | 20¢ |
| Tobacco tax | $1.53 | $1.41 |
City income tax excluded. Sales-tax row: state-only. Exemptions: South Dakota, Statewide average; Texas, Harris County (Houston). Clothing: one $100 item; higher prices can change tax.
What you would need there
A $75,000 salary
| To match take-home only | $75,000 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$9,024 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Every state, at your income
A $75,000 salary
| Best to worst | $6,012 |
|---|---|
| Behind the best | $0 |
| Best at this income | South Dakota |
State income tax only. Each dot is one state's take-home on this salary.
The three taxes you meet
A $75,000 salary
- Income tax17.88%
- Sales tax$776
- Property tax$3,175
| Income tax paid | 17.88% |
|---|---|
| Sales tax, on that spending | $776 |
| Property tax, on that home | $3,175 |
Three different bases, so never summed. Assumes 30% of take-home spent taxably, on a $300,000 home.
Property tax, against the country
A $75,000 salary
| Lowest in the country | 0.27% |
|---|---|
| Highest | 2.11% |
A statewide average effective rate. Your town and school district set the real bill.
When you start earning for yourself
A $75,000 salary
- To income tax · 66 days
- Yours · 299 days
| Share of pay taxed | 17.88% |
|---|
Your income tax, restated as time. Not the national figure, which counts every other tax too.
Price something out in South Dakota
Adjust assumptions
to cover an air conditioner
$531 invested upfront, assuming 7% a year. Includes your starting money and its growth. An illustration, not a forecast; investment growth is separate from the purchase cost above.
- Income tax (federal, FICA, state)30%$224
- Sales tax4%$31
- Air conditioner66%$500
- Income tax (federal, FICA, state)
- Sales tax
- Air conditioner
Data for nerds — sources, confidence and assumptions
Data for nerdssources, confidence, assumptions
Where each number comes from
| Component | Amount | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Item price | $500.00 | Your figureHigh confidence. You supplied this, so it is exact by definition. |
| Sales tax | $30.55 | JurisdictionalMedium confidence. The right jurisdiction, but special districts within it can vary — bounded, and we know the range. |
| Income tax to earn it | $223.62 | StatutoryHigh confidence. This number is the law — federal, FICA and state tax rates are published rates, so the only real risk is staleness. |
Jurisdiction applied
- State:
SD - Sales tax county:
Statewide average - Local income tax: none selected
Assumptions
- We use the normal sales tax rate.
- The electricity to run it is left out. Over the life of the unit that usually costs more than the unit did.
- Sales tax applies at the standard rate.
- Electricity to run it is excluded and typically exceeds the purchase price over the unit's life.
Sources
Your position in the tax system
29.65% on the next dollarEvery extra dollar you earn is taxed at your marginal rate, not your average one — which is why a purchase costs more to fund than a paycheck stub suggests.
Marginal rates are read in gross-income terms: below the standard deduction an extra dollar of pay adds nothing to taxable income, so the true rate there is 0%, not the lowest bracket's. Excludes pre-tax deductions (401(k), HSA), which would lower all three.
Same purchase, different state
SD is #4 of 51The purchase inputs and income stay the same. Your row uses your calculator settings; other states use example counties and omit local income tax. Spread across all 51: $173, from New Hampshire to California.
- $711
- South Dakotayou$754
- $884
Choose a state name to compare against somewhere else.
Where every dollar goes
30% never reaches youThe $754.17 you must earn, followed to where it lands. Select a band to isolate it.
- Federal income tax$165.92
- FICA (Social Security + Medicare)$57.70
- Air conditioner$500.00
- Sales tax$30.55
Each tax layer is the extra tax this purchase causes — that layer's tax at your income subtracted from its tax at your income plus the gross-up — so bracket boundaries the purchase straddles are handled correctly rather than smoothed over with an average rate.
Is a raise actually a raise?
you keep 70%A raise arrives on top of everything you already earn, so it is taxed at your marginal rate — not the average rate on your whole salary.
Federal, FICA, state and any local income tax — no pre-tax deductions, benefit changes, or payroll withholding quirks, all of which move the real figure. Moving into a higher bracket never taxes the income below the threshold: only the dollars above it pay the higher rate.
Deep dives for South Dakota
- Clothing in South Dakota
- Coffee habit in South Dakota
- Grocery delivery in South Dakota
- Haircut in South Dakota
- Home purchase in South Dakota
- Rental car in South Dakota
- Restaurant dinner in South Dakota
- Used car from a private seller in South Dakota
- Wedding in South Dakota
- Weekly groceries in South Dakota
Every purchase we model
Browse all 91 purchase categories
Questions people ask
If there is no income tax here, where does the money come from?
It is collected somewhere else. Sales, property and excise taxes do the work instead — you pay when you spend and when you own, not when you earn. Property tax here is about 1.06% of a home's value.
Do I still have to file a state tax return here?
For wages, generally not — there is no state return to file in South Dakota because there is no state income tax to report. A federal return is unaffected, and earning in another state can still create a return there.
Why is the sales tax I pay higher than the state rate?
What the statute says and what the till charges are different numbers. about 4.2% is the state's share; local layers take it to about 6.11%, varying by address.
My property tax is a rate on a value nobody asked me about. Where does that value come from?
From an assessor, on a schedule the county sets. Your bill is that value times about 1.06%, which sits above the about 0.94% national mean — and a reassessment alone can raise it.
How do states without an income tax fund themselves?
States without a personal income tax substitute consumption and property bases. South Dakota levies no income tax; its statewide effective property tax rate is about 1.06% against a national mean of about 0.94%, with sales and excise carrying the remainder of general revenue.
What state filing obligation remains without a personal income tax?
South Dakota imposes no personal income tax on wages, so no resident wage return is required. Federal obligations are unaffected. Non-resident liability in other states is determined by those states' sourcing rules, and business or entity-level filings may still apply.
What composes a combined sales tax rate?
The combined rate is the sum of the state levy and every local levy sourced to the point of sale. In South Dakota the state component is about 4.2% and the representative combined rate is about 6.11%; county, municipal and special-district add-ons vary within the state, so a single statewide figure is an approximation.
How is the assessed value underlying a property tax bill determined?
Liability is assessed value × the applicable millage. Assessment methodology, cycle and any ratio or cap are set by the taxing jurisdiction, not by transaction price. South Dakota's statewide effective rate is about 1.06% against a national mean of about 0.94%, so reassessment has a larger absolute effect here than the rate comparison alone suggests.