South Dakota rental market data

Apartment List's state recent-lease rent increased 3.1% year over year to $911 in July 2026. Its separate Vacancy Index fell 1.2 percentage points, from 9.5% to 8.4%. State rent growth was 4.1 percentage points above the national rate, which was negative 1.1%, but South Dakota's vacancy rate remained 1.2 percentage points higher than the national 7.2% measure.

The direction supports testing current rents above year-ago levels, while the vacancy level argues for conservative lease-up assumptions. The packet supplies no state time-on-market series. The national series rose from 28 to 30 days, but it cannot stand in for South Dakota or be blended with the state rent and vacancy measures.

Across measured metros, median home-value growth was 3.4% for nine markets, while median asking-rent growth was 3.6% for the five with year-over-year rent data. The packet's comparison puts rent growth 0.25 percentage points above value growth, but the unequal coverage means this is not a like-for-like result for every metro.

Aberdeen had 14.6% asking-rent growth against 6.7% home-value growth, a calculated gap of 7.9 percentage points, with a 5.1% simple gross yield. Sioux Falls recorded 4.0% rent growth and 1.4% value growth; Rapid City recorded 3.6% and 2.1%, respectively. Aberdeen therefore requires the strongest rent-comp check among the named markets. Asking-rent momentum and gross yield do not establish achieved rent, occupancy or net return.

The nine-metro resale distribution had a median 3.5 months of supply, 40 days on market and a 22.2% price-drop share. Sioux Falls combined 2,724 permitted units, or 9.14 per 1,000 residents, with 2.2 months of supply and 34 days on market. Rapid City had 1,106 permits, or 7.23 per 1,000, alongside 3.8 months of supply and 60 days on market.

Spearfish supplied the clearest named exit-friction signal: 5.3 months of supply, 73 days on market and a 96.6% sale-to-list ratio. These differences support metro-specific exit and competition assumptions. Permits represent authorized units, not completed rental inventory, so they cannot establish how much competing rental supply will reach the market.

Migration data for 62 counties showed net inflow of 1,423 people, equal to 1.57 per 1,000 state residents. The income signal did not fully agree: aggregate adjusted gross income flowing out exceeded inflow by $77,979 in the packet.

Employment growth across nine metros had a median of only 0.06%, with the measured distribution running from negative 0.84% at the 10th percentile to 1.60% at the 90th. Brookings and Rapid City were stronger at 1.61% and 1.60%, while Sioux Falls was at 0.34%. Positive migration is therefore a limited demand signal rather than confirmation of broad labor-market strength, especially because the migration and employment series cover different periods.

Across all 66 counties, the median ACS broad housing vacancy rate was 17.0%, with a 10th-to-90th-percentile range of 8.1% to 25.8%. The median county was 26.4% renter-occupied, while single-family homes represented 78.4% of stock and large multifamily properties only 1.4%. These are county distributions, not conditions in every locality.

The median share of renters paying at least 30% of income toward rent was 33.1%, rising to 46.2% at the 90th percentile. Tripp County was higher at 57.3%, alongside an 18.3% ACS vacancy rate and 31.6% renter share. This combination makes property type and tenant affordability material screening variables. ACS broad housing vacancy is not the Apartment List rental Vacancy Index and cannot be used to confirm current rental availability.

Inland flood was the mutually exclusive leading-hazard label for 63 counties, while wildfire was the leading label for three. Across 66 counties, the FEMA loss-ratio distribution ran from 0.11% at the 10th percentile to 0.23% at the 90th, with a 0.15% median.

Effective property-tax rates also varied: the county median was 1.01%, with a 10th-to-90th-percentile range of 0.8% to 1.3%. These distributions support county-level cost screening, but the leading-hazard labels do not identify parcel exposure, building vulnerability, insurance availability or premiums. Property-level underwriting still lacks those inputs.