What care costs for a preschooler and for two children, county by county, and how it compares with what families here earn.
Full-time care for a 4-year-old costs about $6,083 a year in the typical county in South Dakota, or $507 a month, 24.3% less than the $8,040 for the typical county nationally. Care for a 4-year-old and an 8-year-old comes to about $12,726 a year. The cost of care for one preschooler is 7.0% of median family income in the typical county.
The federal Department of Health and Human Services counts child care as affordable when it takes no more than 7% of family income. For one 4-year-old, 32 of South Dakota's 66 counties meet that at the median family income; nationally, 259 of 3,131 counties do. In the budget EPI draws up for two parents and two children, child care is 13.1% of the total in the typical county.
Build a budget with your own child care cost, or see the rest of what South Dakota costs.
Care for a 4-year-old costs most in Lincoln County ($10,171), Minnehaha County ($10,171) and Pennington County ($8,833), and least in Ziebach County ($6,083), Yankton County ($6,083) and Walworth County ($6,083). Metro counties are priced at child care centers, other counties at home-based family child care.
| Aurora County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 7.0% |
| Beadle County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 7.4% |
| Bennett County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 12.2% |
| Bon Homme County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 7.3% |
| Brookings County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,167 | 5.8% |
| Brown County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,167 | 6.2% |
| Brule County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.0% |
| Buffalo County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 11.3% |
| Butte County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.3% |
| Campbell County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.4% |
| Charles Mix County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 7.4% |
| Clark County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 7.8% |
| Clay County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,167 | 6.3% |
| Codington County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,167 | 7.1% |
| Corson County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 12.5% |
| Custer County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.5% |
| Davison County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,167 | 6.6% |
| Day County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 7.4% |
| Deuel County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.6% |
| Dewey County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 9.7% |
| Douglas County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.6% |
| Edmunds County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.7% |
| Fall River County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 7.9% |
| Faulk County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.3% |
| Grant County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.5% |
| Gregory County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 7.9% |
| Haakon County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 7.2% |
| Hamlin County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.6% |
| Hand County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 5.8% |
| Hanson County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.2% |
| Harding County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 7.2% |
| Hughes County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,167 | 6.4% |
| Hutchinson County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.0% |
| Hyde County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.0% |
| Jackson County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 16.3% |
| Jerauld County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.5% |
| Jones County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 7.1% |
| Kingsbury County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.4% |
| Lake County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,167 | 6.4% |
| Lawrence County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,167 | 6.8% |
| Lincoln County | $10,171 | $848 | $20,391 | 9.2% |
| Lyman County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 8.8% |
| Marshall County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 5.9% |
| McCook County | $6,935 | $578 | $13,943 | 7.2% |
| McPherson County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 7.9% |
| Meade County | $6,935 | $578 | $13,943 | 7.5% |
| Mellette County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 11.5% |
| Miner County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.0% |
| Minnehaha County | $10,171 | $848 | $20,391 | 10.2% |
| Moody County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.2% |
| Oglala Lakota County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 17.4% |
| Pennington County | $8,833 | $736 | $18,566 | 9.8% |
| Perkins County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 7.1% |
| Potter County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.6% |
| Roberts County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 7.7% |
| Sanborn County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.6% |
| Spink County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.4% |
| Stanley County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 5.6% |
| Sully County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 6.4% |
| Todd County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 15.2% |
| Tripp County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 8.0% |
| Turner County | $6,935 | $578 | $13,943 | 7.8% |
| Union County | $8,298 | $692 | $15,598 | 7.7% |
| Walworth County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 7.4% |
| Yankton County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,167 | 6.3% |
| Ziebach County | $6,083 | $507 | $12,726 | 13.0% |
Click a column to sort it. The share compares care for one 4-year-old with the county's median family income. A dash means EPI publishes no income figure for that county.
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