South Dakota rental property calculator
The same underwriting engine as everywhere else on Caprately, with South Dakota's actual carrying costs already filled in — so the verdict reflects what the property really costs to own here, not a national average.
- Effective property tax
- 1.10%
- 1.00% published median · close to the middle nationally
- Landlord insurance
- 1.30%
- of value per year, well above the national average
- vs. national average
- +$221
- per month on a $300,000 rental
What a rental costs to carry in South Dakota
Property tax and insurance only — before the mortgage, before management, before a single repair. These are the two expenses that change most when you cross a state line, and the ones most calculators estimate from one national percentage.
| Purchase price | Property tax | Insurance | Monthly carry |
|---|---|---|---|
| $150,000 | $138/mo | $163/mo | $301/mo |
| $250,000 | $229/mo | $271/mo | $500/mo |
| $400,000 | $367/mo | $433/mo | $800/mo |
| $600,000 | $550/mo | $650/mo | $1,200/mo |
South Dakota's published effective rate is 1.00% on owner-occupied housing. Rentals usually lose the homestead exemption — and some states assess them at a higher ratio outright — so these figures apply a uniform 10% uplift, giving 1.10%.
Property tax: Tax Foundation, from 2024 American Community Survey data (2024). Insurance is the rougher of the two — premiums are published in dollars rather than as a share of value, so treat it as an order of magnitude and get a real quote. County variation inside a state is often wider than the gap between two states, and the assessor's record is the only number that finally counts.
Underwrite a rental in South Dakota
Every estimate below already carries South Dakota's tax and insurance rates. Change any assumption — or paste a listing — and the full analysis updates instantly.
Analyzing this as
Import a deal
Use a property that's for sale. A “for rent” listing has a monthly rent but no purchase price, so there's nothing to buy and nothing to work out.
A link fills in the address. Copied text fills in the price and size too, plus the Rent Zestimate if the page shows one. Whatever it misses, you can type — it's never more than a number or two.
Nothing is scraped: the page is read in your browser, and only the address is ever sent to us.
Meets your criteria, with little room
- Max workable price
- ~$286,000
- You’re asking
- $285,000
You’re about $1,000 below your maximum workable price.
Tightest constraint: DSCR — 1.21x against a minimum of 1.20x.
Why
- Monthly cash flow $288/mo vs min $0/mo
- DSCR 1.21x vs min 1.20x
- Cash-on-cash return 4.5% vs min 4.0%
- Break-even occupancy 85.1% vs max 90.0%
Biggest uncertainty: the rent
- At $2,900/moPASS
- At $2,883/moFAIL
- Minimum rent required$2,884/mo
Every other input here is a price or a rate you can look up. The rent is usually an estimate, and it is the input the answer moves most on — check it against two real rentals nearby before you act on any of this.
Second uncertainty: the property tax
- At $261/moPASS
- At $278/moFAIL
- Most tax this supports$273/mo
That figure is a state median. Rates vary by county and school district within every state, sometimes by more than double, so the listing's own tax line is the number that settles it. The ceiling is 1.15% of the price a year. 18 of 51 states tax above that, starting with California — in any of them this fails on tax alone.
Max workable price is based on your assumptions and screening criteria. It is not an appraisal, and not an estimate of market value. Assumes 25% down at 6.67% over 30 years, with tax and insurance at South Dakota rates. Change any of it under “Adjust the assumptions”.
If the rent comes in low
It works at your rent but not at the bottom of the range, so the answer depends on where the property actually lands.
It stops working below $2,884/mo — that's your margin on the rent.
| Scenario | Rent | Cash flow | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | $2,610 | $63/mo | FAIL |
| Base(yours) | $2,900 | $288/mo | PASS |
| Optimistic | $3,190 | $510/mo | PASS |
The range is your rent plus or minus 10%, which is roughly how far a rent estimate is routinely wrong. Import a listing with market data configured and this becomes the range the actual comps support. No confidence percentage is shown, because nothing here has a validated error rate to base one on.
Clears every bar: $288/mo of cash flow on $76,950 invested.
That's a 4.5% cash-on-cash return, with the income covering the loan 1.21x over. Verify the tax bill and get a real insurance quote before you offer.
Property
$285,000 purchase · 25% down · 6.67% / 30yr
Gross monthly rent
$2,900
1.02% of price/mo
Monthly cash flow
$288
Show the formula
effective rent − operating expenses − mortgage payment
$2,755 − $1,092 − $1,375 = $288/mo
NOI (annual)
$19,956
Show the formula
(effective rent − operating expenses) × 12
($2,755 − $1,092) × 12 = $19,956
Cap rate
7.0%
Show the formula
annual NOI ÷ purchase price
$19,956 ÷ $285,000 = 7.0%
Cash-on-cash return
4.5%
Show the formula
annual cash flow ÷ total cash invested
$3,456 ÷ $76,950 = 4.5%
DSCR
1.21x
Show the formula
monthly NOI ÷ mortgage payment
$1,663 ÷ $1,375 = 1.21x
Break-even occupancy
85.1%
Show the formula
(operating expenses + mortgage payment) ÷ gross rent
($1,092 + $1,375) ÷ $2,900 = 85.1%
Loan amount
$213,750
Show the formula
purchase price − down payment
$285,000 − $71,250 (25%) = $213,750
Monthly P&I payment
$1,375
Show the formula
amortized loan payment (rate ÷ 12, term × 12)
$213,750 at 6.67% over 30 yrs = $1,375/mo
Annualized return if you sold in year 10
15.2%a year
Counts the $76,950 you put in up front, 10 years of cash flow, and the $191,904 left after paying off the loan and 7% in selling costs. Unlike cash-on-cash, it accounts for when each dollar arrives — which is what makes it comparable to a return quoted on a stock or a bond.
This is the least certain number on the page. Most of it comes from the sale, and the sale assumes 3.5% appreciation every year for 10 years. Change that one assumption and this figure moves further than any of the ones above.
Show the cash flowsThe cash flows
the rate at which every flow below discounts back to zero
- Now-$76,950
- Year 1$3,456
- Year 2$4,185
- Year 3$4,940
- Year 4$5,719
- Year 5$6,525
- Year 6$7,357
- Year 7$8,218
- Year 8$9,107
- Year 9$10,026
- Year 10$202,879
Year 10 includes the sale. Nothing here is money in your pocket until the property actually sells.
Equity grows from $83,538 in year 1 to $220,046 in year 10, driven by loan paydown and property appreciation.
| Year | Equity |
|---|---|
| 1 | $83,538 |
| 2 | $96,334 |
| 3 | $109,662 |
| 4 | $123,546 |
| 5 | $138,010 |
| 6 | $153,083 |
| 7 | $168,793 |
| 8 | $185,168 |
| 9 | $202,242 |
| 10 | $220,046 |
Make this one work
Worked backwards from your numbers — the two levers that bring it inside the criteria.
Max offer that passes
$286,000
Room to pay $1,000 more than your $285,000
Rent needed to pass
$2,884/mo
Right at your $2,900/mo
“Deal” means it clears every screening bar — positive cash flow, DSCR 1.2+, and a 4%+ cash-on-cash return. Holding your other assumptions fixed.
Stress test
5 of five standard shocks flip this deal — here's exactly which ones.
- FLIPSFAIL
Interest rate +1%
$143/mo cash flow
- FLIPSFAIL
Rent comes in 10% lower
$12/mo cash flow
- FLIPSFAIL
Vacancy hits 15%
-$2/mo cash flow
- FLIPSFAIL
Operating costs +15%
$124/mo cash flow
- FLIPSFAIL
A $15k surprise repair
cash-on-cash 3.8%
Each shock changes one assumption and re-runs the entire engine. Everything else stays exactly as you set it.
Your deals
Saved deals live in this browser. Share links carry the full analysis — send one to a partner and they see exactly what you see.
South Dakota rental property questions
- What are property taxes on a rental property in South Dakota?
- South Dakota's median effective property tax rate is 1.00% of market value per year. Rentals typically lose the homestead exemption, so Caprately screens them at about 1.10%. That works out to roughly $275 a month on a $300,000 property. Your actual bill comes from the county assessor and can differ significantly.
- How much is landlord insurance in South Dakota?
- Budget around 1.30% of the property's value per year in South Dakota, or about $325 a month on a $300,000 rental. Landlord (DP-3) policies usually cost more than a comparable homeowner's policy, and coastal or wildfire exposure can push the premium well past this estimate.
- Is South Dakota a good state for rental property?
- No state is good or bad on its own — what matters is the relationship between price and rent in the specific market you are buying in. What South Dakota does change is the carrying cost: at 1.10% tax and 1.30% insurance, a $300,000 rental carries $600 a month before the mortgage. Run the actual property through the calculator to see whether the rent covers it.
States that carry like South Dakota
Closest total tax-and-insurance load to South Dakota's.
All 50 states and D.C. →Understand the numbers
What each metric means, what counts as good, and what it hides.
- Cap rate
Cap rate is a property's annual net operating income divided by its purchase price — the yield the building throws off before any financing.
- DSCR
DSCR is net operating income divided by debt service — how many times over the property's income covers its loan payment.
- Cash-on-cash return
Cash-on-cash return is a year of cash flow divided by the cash you actually put in — down payment, closing costs, and rehab.
- The 1% rule
The 1% rule says a rental should collect at least 1% of its purchase price in monthly rent — a screen, not an analysis.