Want to live and work in South Dakota?

A one-bedroom apartment in Sioux Falls runs between $850 and $1,200/month. In Rapid City, between $750 and $1,100/month. In smaller cities like Aberdeen or Brookings, between $600 and $900/month. Buying a home is realistic: three-bedroom houses in good neighborhoods in Sioux Falls range from $280,000 to $450,000. Rapid City is similar. In small towns, homes go for $150,000 to $250,000.

Grocery chains like Hy-Vee, Sunshine, Walmart, Costco, and Aldi compete. A meal at a popular restaurant costs $10 to $16. Gas is below the national average. Electricity is reasonable, and winter heating runs $150 to $350/month in the coldest months.

The main financial draw: South Dakota has no state income tax. Sales tax is 4.5% (plus local variations). In general, a modest salary goes a long way. Average wages are lower than in major metros, but purchasing power is high. Retirees from other states move here for the combination of low taxes, low costs, and solid medical care.

Healthcare is the top employer. Sanford Health and Avera Health compete in Sioux Falls, with hospitals, clinics, and research centers. Together they employ tens of thousands across the state and into Iowa and Minnesota, drawing professionals from across the US.

Financial services are strong. Citibank has run a large credit-card operation in Sioux Falls since 1981, when it moved from New York to take advantage of favorable state laws. Wells Fargo, First Premier Bank, Capital One, and other large companies have operations in the city. Jobs in customer service, risk analysis, fraud prevention, and financial technology are common.

Agriculture anchors many rural communities. Corn, soybeans, wheat, and cattle lead. Smithfield Foods (a meatpacking plant in Sioux Falls) employs thousands, mainly refugees and immigrants. In Rapid City, there is tourism (Mount Rushmore draws millions), Ellsworth Air Force Base, and National American University. Average wages are moderate, but combined with low costs and zero income tax, purchasing power is solid.

Sanford Health, headquartered in Sioux Falls (and Fargo, ND), is one of the largest rural health networks in the US, present in several states. Avera Health is also based in Sioux Falls and competes directly with Sanford. Both systems operate large hospitals, clinics, and research centers serving Sioux Falls, numerous smaller cities, and parts of Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska.

In Rapid City, Monument Health (formerly Regional Health) is the main network. Smaller hospitals serve Aberdeen, Brookings, and Pierre. On reservations, the Indian Health Service runs hospitals (Pine Ridge, Rosebud), though with long waits and limited resources.

South Dakota expanded Medicaid under the ACA in 2023. Employer-provided insurance is the standard for formal workers. Telemedicine has grown, especially for rural areas. Without insurance, an ER visit can top $1,500. Urgent care ($100 to $200) is an alternative. For immigrants in Sioux Falls, community clinics offer sliding-scale fees without checking immigration documents.

South Dakota is car country. There are no passenger trains or subways. Sioux Falls and Rapid City have modest bus systems, but most people drive. Distances between cities are long: Sioux Falls to Rapid City is about five and a half hours across the entire state.

Interstates I-29 (north-south, connecting Sioux Falls to Fargo) and I-90 (east-west, crossing the state from Sioux Falls to Rapid City and the Black Hills) are the main highways. Traffic is minimal. Parking is free or cheap. A four-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive vehicle is useful for winter and for reaching rural areas and the Black Hills. Roads in the west can become isolated during blizzards.

Sioux Falls Regional Airport (FSD) is the largest in the state, with direct flights to Minneapolis, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, and several other US cities. Rapid City Regional (RAP) also serves domestic routes. Smaller airports in Aberdeen, Pierre, Brookings, and Watertown handle regional flights. There are no significant nonstop international flights; connections go through larger hubs.

Native American culture is central to South Dakota. The Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota nations (collectively known as the Sioux) have millennia-old traditions of buffalo hunting, ceremonial dances (the Sun Dance), spirituality, and art. On reservations, powwows (festivals with dance, music, and food) happen year-round. The Crazy Horse Monument, under construction for decades near Mount Rushmore, honors the Lakota leader.

European heritage, mainly Scandinavian, German, and Dutch, is strong in rural areas. Lutheran and Catholic churches, fall festivals (Oktoberfest), and traditional foods (kuchen, hotdish, runza) mark community life. The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in August draws hundreds of thousands of riders from around the world to the Black Hills, making it one of the largest events of its kind on the planet.

Tourists come mainly for Mount Rushmore (with four presidential faces carved into the mountain), Badlands National Park, Custer State Park (with free-roaming bison), Wind Cave, and the Black Hills. Rapid City has statues of all 44 presidents on its sidewalks. The Corn Palace in Mitchell is an architectural curiosity (a building decorated every year with corn). There is also a strong rodeo tradition, with competitions across the state throughout the summer.

South Dakota is home to about 35,000 people born outside the United States, close to 4% of the population. Sioux Falls is the main refugee resettlement center in the state and hosts one of the largest Karen communities in the United States, coming from Myanmar via refugee camps in Thailand. Somalis arrived from the 2000s on and run mosques and markets in Sioux Falls. Sudanese from South Sudan form another visible community, alongside Ethiopians, Eritreans, and Congolese. Mexicans and Central Americans arrived through construction, meatpacking, and agriculture, with a presence in Sioux Falls, Rapid City, and Huron, known for its Karen community and a Dakota Provisions plant.

South Dakota has no foreign consulates of its own, and consular support comes from Chicago or Minneapolis. Lutheran Social Services of South Dakota, based in Sioux Falls, is the main resettlement agency and offers English classes, legal services, and support to newly arrived families. Caminando Juntos serves Hispanic families with educational and legal support. Churches, mosques, and Buddhist temples in Sioux Falls act as orientation points. Public schools in Sioux Falls and Huron run bilingual programs in Karen, Spanish, Somali, and Swahili.