As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, South Dakota has one city among the largest 250 in the nation.
In Sioux Falls, full-day infant care runs $9,064 a year — the second-cheapest center price in the country and 12.5% of the median household's pre-tax income, the lowest such share in the entire 50-state index. South Dakota is also one of only five states with no state pre-K program at all: zero enrollment for 3- and 4-year-olds, zero per-child spending, and CCDF subsidies that reach just 8.5% of eligible children. The state still finishes 8th nationally. What it sells, in effect, is price: a regulated childcare market where the bill rarely exceeds the rent, against a labor force where 76% of mothers of young children show up to work. The numbers below explain how that arithmetic holds together.
Key highlights & actionable takeaways
- Moderate (62/100), ranked 8th nationally — one of two Plains states in the top 10, just shy of Strong tier.
- Infant care eats 12.5% of median income — the lowest cost-burden share in the entire 50-state index; childcare bill runs below rent.
- One of five states with no pre-K program at all (0% access for both 3- and 4-year-olds); still finishes top-decile on the strength of price and demographics.
Affordability — 93/100
A center-based infant slot in South Dakota runs $9,064 a year — about $8,100 below the $17,163 national figure and the second-lowest absolute price tag in the index. At 12.5% of the state's $72,421 median household income, infant care lands well below both the 21.9% national rate and (just barely) above the federal 7%-of-income affordability benchmark. The childcare-to-rent ratio sits at 0.83 — the lowest in the country alongside Kansas, meaning South Dakota families with one infant in center care actually pay less in monthly childcare than in monthly rent. Toddler care matches infant pricing at $9,064; preschool, $8,301. Family child care takes the price down further to $6,834 for infants, the lowest such figure in the index. South Dakota's 93/100 affordability score is the highest dimension score across the entire 12-state Midwest cohort. The state simply does not have a childcare price problem in the way that virtually every other state does — what limits family choice is supply, not the bill.
Supply — 49/100
South Dakota licensed 35,270 childcare slots against 50,490 children with potential need — a 35.3% gap, slightly wider than the 27% national rate. Of the 72,746 kids under five with all parents working, the licensed system can serve roughly 70% at full enrollment. The state operates 252 licensed establishments at 4.34 per 1,000 children under five, just above the 4.21 national rate. The 49/100 Supply score reflects a tight slot gap balanced by adequate establishment density — South Dakota has functional childcare infrastructure where it operates, but the gap shows up most acutely in the western half of the state and in tribal communities, where regulated care is functionally limited. Supply is the dimension where South Dakota's overall ranking sees its biggest drag.
Workforce — 45/100
South Dakota's weakest dimension after policy. The median South Dakota childcare worker earns $12.92 an hour — the lowest median wage of any state in the Midwest and $2.49 below the $15.41 national median. The wage reaches 62.9% of the state's $20.53 living wage for a single adult, essentially identical to the 62.6% national share. Annual median pay sits at $26,870 across just 2,640 workers in the occupation — the smallest childcare workforce in the Midwest in absolute terms. The Workforce dimension scores below the national midpoint despite the state's low cost of living because the absolute wage is low enough that recruitment into the field, particularly in the smaller communities, remains a binding constraint on capacity expansion.
Family Strain — 85/100
Mothers of children under six participate in the labor force at 76.3% — eight points above the 68.2% national rate and one of the highest in the Midwest. Single-parent households make up 28.9% of families with kids under 18, well below the 31.8% national figure. The Family Strain dimension scores at 85/100, anchored by both metrics simultaneously — high mothers' LFP and low single-parent share. The pattern is the Plains-state norm: dual-earner married households remain the dominant family structure for kids under five.
Policy Support — 16/100
South Dakota's weakest dimension by a wide margin and the lowest policy score among the 12 Midwestern states. The state has no state pre-K program at all — a 0% access rate for both 4-year-olds and 3-year-olds, and zero per-child spending. South Dakota is one of only five states (with Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming) in the entire 50-state index where the pre-K denominator is zero. CCDF subsidies reach just 8.5% of eligible children (about 3,000 monthly), the lowest coverage rate in the Midwest by a wide margin. The state has no paid family leave program. Head Start serves another 2,466 children — for many South Dakota families, Head Start is the only form of publicly subsidized early-childhood programming. The 16/100 score reflects what amounts to a policy abstention; the state's #8 overall ranking is happening despite the policy footprint, not because of it.
City spotlight
Sioux Falls scores 62/100 (Moderate, #37 of 250) — the only South Dakota city in the index. As the lone state representative, Sioux Falls's profile mirrors the state pattern closely: low absolute prices, supply that's adequate but not abundant, strong family-strain metrics, and minimal policy backing. Minnehaha County's household-income base is comparable to the state median. The city's ranking inside the top 50 nationally reflects the state-level demographic and pricing pattern more than any metro-specific advantage.
In-home care in South Dakota
Beverly Research perspective: South Dakota's in-home care market is small in absolute terms and concentrated in the Sioux Falls and Rapid City metros. Full-time live-out nanny rates typically run $15-22/hour for one child — the lowest band in the Midwest, reflecting the state's overall lower cost-of-living base and the low absolute price of regulated care that in-home care competes against. The economics tilt toward center-based care for most families because the state's center pricing is so low; in-home care tends to fill scheduling needs (shift work in healthcare, agricultural-cycle employment) rather than substituting for unavailable center capacity. Au pair placements remain rare statewide.
Methodology: The the score is a 0-100 composite score across five dimensions: Affordability (30 pts), Supply (25 pts), Workforce Health (15 pts), Family Strain (15 pts), and Policy Support (15 pts). State-level prices and supply use population-weighted county aggregates. Policy Support is measured at the state level. Full methodology and data sources: beverly.io/research/methodology.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates; U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau National Database of Childcare Prices; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS (May 2024) and QCEW; Buffett Early Childhood Institute / Bipartisan Policy Center / Child Care Aware childcaregap.org (Sept 2025); NIEER State of Preschool Yearbook 2024; HHS ACF CCDF FY2023; National Partnership for Women & Families (March 2026).