Updated August 7, 2026. Quick answer: every figure Clear Money Guide holds about South Dakota, on one page, each one copied from a dataset that cites its own statute or agency. Built for reporters on deadline — take any line, follow the link for the source.
What stands out about South Dakota
These are the figures where South Dakota differs most from the rest of the country — selected by counting how many jurisdictions share each value, not by editorial preference.
- Return deadline: 21 days after termination of tenancy and receipt of tenant’s mailing address — the only jurisdiction of the 51 we have data for
- Formation fee: $150 online; $165 paper — the only jurisdiction of the 48 we have data for
- Grace period days: 30 days — one of only 3 of 47
- Has law: No — one of only 8 of 51
What dying costs here
- Small estate limit: 100000
- Small estate scope: personal_only
Source and full detail: the cost-of-dying index. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
Estate and property law status
- Authorized: yes
- Statute or act: SDCL 18-1-11.2 et seq. (S.B. 211, 2024)
- Effective date: 2024-07-01
- Conditions: Notary must be physically located in South Dakota at the time of notarization (the signer may be anywhere); must register the electronic platform(s) and e-seal image with the SOS via a Notary Change Form. South Dakota maintains no approved-vendor list, so notaries select a compliant platform them…
- Association name: South Dakota Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association
- Death benefit limit: $300,000
- Cash surrender limit: $100,000
- Annuity limit: $250,000
- Aggregate limit: $300,000
- Statute citation: S.D. Codified Laws ch. 58-29C (South Dakota Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association Act) — chapter verified; the specific limits section within the chapter could not be pinned to a section number from a reachable source
- Free look days: 10 days
- Trigger: actual receipt of the policy by the purchaser
- Refund basis: refund of the premium paid; policy void from the beginning
- Grace period days: 30 days
- Coverage during grace: the policy continues in full force; any premium due or overdue may be deducted from the policy proceeds
- Variations: four weeks for industrial life insurance policies whose premiums are payable more frequently than monthly
Source and full detail: notary rules by state · guaranty association limits · life insurance free-look periods · life insurance grace periods. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
Working and earning here
- Quit deadline: Next regular payday (or when the employee returns all employer property, if that is later)
- Fired deadline: Next regular payday (or when the employee returns all employer property, if that is later)
- Statute citation: SDCL 60-11-10 (deadline); 60-11-7, 60-11-15 (penalties)
- Has law: No
- Disclosure trigger: none
- Salary history ban: No
- Local ordinances: none identified
- Contested: No
Source and full detail: final paycheck laws by state · pay transparency laws by state · paid family leave by state · the convenience-of-the-employer rule. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
Renting here
- Deposit cap: 1 month’s rent
- Return deadline: 21 days after termination of tenancy and receipt of tenant’s mailing address
- Interest required: no
- Statute citation: SDCL 43-32-6.1 (deposit limit); SDCL 43-32-24 (return of deposit)
Source and full detail: security deposit law by state. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
Starting a business here
- Formation fee: $150 online; $165 paper
- Annual report: $55 online; $70 paper
- Franchise tax: none
- Publication requirement: none
- Expedite options: $50 expedited service
- Statute citation: SDCL 47-34A-211; SDCL 59-11-24 to 59-11-26 (SDCL 59-11-25 amended by SL 2026, ch. 203, sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2027); SD SOS filing-fee schedule
- Five year total: $425
Source and full detail: LLC cost by state. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
Tax treatment here
- Has law: No
- Treatment: none
- Preferential mechanism: none
Source and full detail: capital gains tax by state. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
For journalists: how to cite this
Clear Money Guide, South Dakota Money Statistics 2026. https://clearmoneyguide.com/state-money-statistics/south-dakota/. Every figure on this page is copied from a Clear Money Guide dataset that states its own primary source and the date it was read — follow the section links for the statute or agency behind any number. Free to reuse with attribution under CC BY 4.0.
What this sheet does and does not contain
This sheet aggregates; it does not research. Every figure is copied from the owning page linked in each section, and a figure we do not own is simply absent — not estimated, not inferred from a neighbouring state. That is why sheets differ in length: this one states 40 figures, and a state where we hold less will show fewer. A short sheet means we have less, not that the state has less.
Statutory law changes. Each linked owner page carries the date its figures were read; check there before relying on anything here. See also South Dakota financial adviser statistics and all 51 state money sheets.
General information about published law and public data, not legal, tax or investment advice. No advertising appears on this page and we earn nothing from it.