Des Moines, IA → Sioux Falls, SD
You'd keep $54 more a month in Sioux Falls
+$648 a year for the same registered nurse, the same household size, and the same number of bedrooms.
In 2022-2023, 32 households moved Des Moines → Sioux Falls (avg AGI $61,406). 38 went the other way. The whole move →
| Per month | Des Moines | Sioux Falls | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $7,500 | $7,266 | −$234 |
| Income and payroll tax | $1,764 | $1,455 | −$308 |
| Take-home pay | $5,736 | $5,810 | +$74 |
| Rent | $1,005 | $1,005 | $0 |
| Getting around | $533 | $539 | +$6 |
| Groceries | $360 | $364 | +$4 |
| Healthcare | $405 | $410 | +$5 |
| Utilities | $225 | $228 | +$3 |
| Everything else | $315 | $319 | +$4 |
| Left over | $2,893 | $2,947 | +$54 |
To break even in Sioux Falls, you'd need to earn
$86,500
Household gross, versus $90,000 today. That's the salary that leaves you exactly as much at the end of the month as Des Moines does now.
The tax difference alone
+$2,865
A year, in state and local income tax. South Dakota has no wage income tax.
More about Sioux Falls
Des Moines, IA in full
Insurance-sector wages against the lowest housing costs on this list.
Sioux Falls, SD in full
No income tax, an 18-minute commute, and nothing to do in February.
The reverse move
Same two cities, but starting from Sioux Falls on Sioux Falls wages.
Sioux Falls → Des Moines →Rent is Zillow's asking rent for each metro; taxes and living costs are modelled. An estimate, not a quote or tax advice. How this is calculated.