Skip to content
Property Tax Calculatorby state · levy atlas Index

Sheet SD · 2026 rules

South Dakota Property Tax Calculator

South Dakota’s agency guidance distinguishes owner-occupied classification and directs owners to their local property-tax records. The classification is limited to one owner-occupied property in the state. It should not be assumed for every house owned by the same person.

Rules verified 22 primary sources Editorial policy

Estimate your 2026 South Dakota bill

Approved shared exemption, bill credits and charges (optional)

The same assessed-value amount must apply to Local ad valorem levies. Different approvals or bases require the prepared levy worksheet. Do not repeat relief already deducted.

Use the assessing authority’s value, recorded classification and current rates. Worked examples use hypothetical rates unless labeled statutory.

South Dakota · 2026 residential assessment worksheet Needs inputs
South Dakota estimated annual property tax —
  • Tax — Local ad valorem levies —
  • Credits subtracted —
  • Fixed charges added —
Per month (annual ÷ 12) —
What was applied Enter the county-assessed value before equalization from the assessment notice.
Assessed value after ratio and cap —
Taxable value — Local ad valorem levies —
Effective rate on market value —

What this estimate leaves out

How South Dakota turns value into a tax bill

South Dakota statewide rules
StepSouth Dakota ruleSource
Value Copy the county-assessed value before equalization. Enter the county’s actual equalization factor separately; do not enter an already-equalized taxable value and apply the factor twice. [1]
Assessment 100% of county-assessed value before equalizationThen apply the actual equalization multiplier entered for this assessment. State DOR distinguishes full assessed value from property equalized to 85% for tax purposes. The county’s actual factor converts its roll to the required taxable level; .85 applies when its assessment level is 100%. [1]
Annual limit No automatic parcel bill cap is inferred from a limit on a jurisdiction’s total levy.
Exemptions Other relief is applied only from a recorded approval; the calculator does not decide qualification.
Rate Local ad valorem levies: local rate — you enter it.Local ad valorem levies from the applicable taxing authority. The rate is not a Census ratio.

South Dakota assessment, owner-occupied relief, appeals and due dates

The county director of equalization assesses each parcel at fair market value, based on its value on November 1 before the assessment year. The Department of Revenue then has property equalized to 85% for tax purposes; in a county assessed at 100% of full and true value, the equalization factor is.85.3415

A person can have only one owner-occupied dwelling, the principal residence, and the classification reduces only the school general levy; county, city and other levies are the same for every class. File the owner-occupied certificate with the director of equalization by March 15. A buyer of a home already classified owner-occupied can qualify by filing the certificate of value at transfer, and classification appeals go directly to the county board of equalization.687

Recent laws target owner-occupied bills. SB 216 (2025) caps the yearly growth in total owner-occupied valuation at 3% in each county and limits local budgets to 3% annual growth; it is a county-wide limit, not a cap on one parcel's value. SB 245 (2026) uses one-time state money to lower the owner-occupied school general fund levy for taxes payable in 2027, and SB 96 (2026) lets a county adopt a sales tax of up to 0.5% to reduce the county portion of property taxes.109

Assessment notices go out by March 1, and you must appeal to the local board first or lose the right to appeal to the later boards. For 2026 the local-board clerk had to receive the written appeal by March 12 (by statute, the Thursday before the third Monday in March); county-board appeals were due to the county auditor by April 7, and the county board meets on the second Tuesday in April. Appeals to the Office of Hearing Examiners were due by May 15, 2026.21112

The assessment freeze stops the taxable value of a home from rising for owners 65 or older or disabled. The December 2025 brochure sets household income under $56,595 for one person or $66,885 for a household (the statute's $55,000 and $65,000, indexed), and homes worth $514,500 or more are not eligible unless already frozen. Reapply with the county treasurer by April 1 every year.131415

$200,000 of the full and true value of an owner-occupied home is exempt for a veteran rated permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected disability, and for the veteran's surviving spouse; apply to the county assessor by November 1.161718 Separately, the Department of Revenue pays a yearly refund to seniors and people with disabilities living alone on income of $17,215 or less, or in a household with combined income of $23,265 or less, with applications accepted from May 1 to July 1.181920 The older property-tax refund chapter is marked repealed.21

Property taxes are paid in halves. Half of any unpaid tax becomes delinquent on May 1 and the other half must be paid by October 31; a bill of $50 or less is due in full by April 30. Owners at least 70 years old, or a surviving spouse, can defer payment until the home is sold under the Property Tax Homestead Exemption; the deferred taxes are a lien paid with interest before the property can be transferred.2218

Worked example

Example county assessed at 100% of full value: $300,000 assessed × actual equalization factor 0.85 = $255,000 taxable. Illustrative 10 mills gives $2,550. Enter a different actual county factor when required.

South Dakota worked example
LineTaxable valueTax
Local ad valorem levies at 10 mills$255,000.00$2,550.00
Annual total$2,550.00

Left to your local bill

Census context, not a rate

American Community Survey 2020–2024: median owner-occupied value $257,400 (±$3,051), median real-estate taxes $2,724 (±$28). Dividing one by the other gives 1.06% for South Dakota. Tables B25077 and B25103; why it is only context.

Sources

  1. dor.sd.govSouth Dakota Department of Revenue, Property Tax: how property taxes are calculated, read .
    “All property is to be assessed at full and true value. Then the property is equalized to 85% for property tax purposes. If the county is at 100% of full and true value, then the equalization factor (the number to get to 85% of taxable value) would be .85.”
  2. dor.sd.govSouth Dakota DOR, 2026 Property Owner Assessment and Appeal Process Guide, read .
    “To appeal to the local board, you must notify the clerk of the local board in writing. The clerk must receive your notification by March 12, 2026. Postmarked by this date is considered timely. … The written appeal must be received by the county auditor by April 7, 2026.”
  3. sdlegislature.govSDCL 10-6-119, read .
    “The director shall individually assess each tract of real property at its fair market value.”
  4. sdlegislature.govSDCL 10-6-105, read .
    “All real property subject to taxation shall be listed and assessed annually, but the value of such property is to be determined according to its value on the first day of November preceding the assessment.”
  5. sdlegislature.govSDCL 10-12-31.1, read .
    “equal to eighty-five percent of market value or agricultural income value. The Department of Revenue shall provide the director of equalization of each county all of the factors of adjustment necessary for the computations required in this section.”
  6. sdlegislature.govSDCL 10-13-39, read .
    “A person may only have one dwelling, which is the person's principal place of residence as defined in § 12-1-4 , classified as an owner-occupied single-family dwelling.”
  7. sdlegislature.govSDCL 10-13-40, read .
    “The owner-occupant shall submit the certificate by March fifteenth. … The new owner-occupant of transferred property which is already classified as owner-occupied may meet the requirements of this section by completing and filing the certificate of value required pursuant to § 7-9-7 at the time of the transfer of the property.”
  8. dor.sd.govSouth Dakota DOR, Owner-Occupied Classification tax fact (July 2026), read .
    “Owner-occupied classification reduces only the school general levy.”
  9. dor.sd.govSouth Dakota DOR, Owner-Occupied Property Tax Relief tax fact (August 2026), read .
    “For taxes payable in 2027, SB 245 provides one-time state funding that allows the owner-occupied School General Fund Levy to be lower than it otherwise would have been. … SB 96 (2026 legislative session) gives counties the option to impose a local sales and use tax of up to 0.5%. Revenue from the tax must be used to reduce the county portion of property taxes.”
  10. dor.sd.govSouth Dakota DOR, 2026 Property Tax Relief Programs overview, read .
    “The bill caps annual increases on overall owner-occupied valuation at 3% in each county and limits local government property tax budgets to 3% annual growth. These changes first appeared in the 2026 assessment notices, and they will apply to taxes paid in 2027.”
  11. sdlegislature.govSDCL 10-11-16, read .
    “The clerk of the local board of equalization shall be notified of the appeal no later than the Thursday preceding the third Monday in March.”
  12. sdlegislature.govSDCL 10-11-25, read .
    “The board shall meet annually on the second Tuesday in April at the Office of the Auditor.”
  13. sdlegislature.govSDCL 10-6A-2, read .
    “Has a household income of less than fifty-five thousand dollars if the household is a single-member household or the person has a household income of less than sixty-five thousand dollars if the household is a multiple-member household;”
  14. dor.sd.govSouth Dakota DOR, Assessment Freeze for the Elderly and Disabled brochure (December 2025), read .
    “Single member household (only one person in household), income less than $56,595. Multiple member household (include all members income), income less than $66,885. … Property with a full and true market value of $514,500 or more is not eligible for this tax program unless the applicant has received the assessment freeze on the property in a prior year.”
  15. sdlegislature.govSDCL 10-6A-4, read .
    “The application for the real property tax assessment freeze provided under this chapter shall be annually submitted on or before April first on forms prescribed by the secretary of revenue.”
  16. sdlegislature.govSDCL 10-4-40, read .
    “Two hundred thousand dollars of the full and true value of the total amount of a dwelling or portion thereof classified as owner-occupied pursuant to §§ 10-13-39 to 10-13-40.4 , inclusive, which is owned and occupied by a veteran who is rated as permanently and totally disabled”
  17. sdlegislature.govSDCL 10-4-41, read .
    “The surviving spouse of a veteran who was rated as permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected disability; or”
  18. dor.sd.govSouth Dakota DOR, Property Tax Relief Programs, read .
    “Live alone and have a yearly income of $17,215 or less OR live in a household whose members' combined income is $23,265 or less. To Apply Applications are accepted from May 1 to July 1. … This program delays the payment of property taxes until the property is sold. The taxes are a lien on the property and must be paid along with the interest before the property can be transferred.”
  19. sdlegislature.govSDCL 10-45A-5, read .
    “If the claimant's income is seventeen thousand two hundred fifteen dollars or less, a sum equal to the pro rata share of each eligible claimant determined pursuant to § 10-45A-13 , not to exceed five hundred dollars;”
  20. sdlegislature.govSDCL 10-45A-6, read .
    “If household income is twenty-three thousand two hundred sixty-five dollars or less, a sum equal to two times the pro rata share of each eligible claimant determined pursuant to § 10-45A-13 , not to exceed one thousand dollars;”
  21. sdlegislature.govSDCL chapter 10-18A (repealed), read .
    “CHAPTER 10-18A PROPERTY TAX REFUND FOR ELDERLY AND DISABLED PERSONS [REPEALED]”
  22. sdlegislature.govSDCL 10-21-23, read .
    “On May first of the year after which taxes have been assessed, one-half of all unpaid real property taxes are delinquent. However, all real property taxes totaling fifty dollars or less shall be paid in full on or before April thirtieth. … If the other half is not paid on or before October thirty-first of the same year, that amount also becomes delinquent on November first and the same interest shall attach in the same manner.”

Bordering jurisdictions

Rules verified by the Property Tax Calculator Editorial Team. Report a correction