South Dakota Grocery Budget Calculator

Grocery budget estimation for South Dakota using the USDA's own published food plan reference-family-of-4 figures (May 2026 report; four plan levels for a family of 4: Thrifty ~$963, Low-Cost ~$1,059, Moderate ~$1,307, Liberal ~$1,579 in South Dakota). USDA publishes a single national reference-family-of-4 monthly average for each plan (Thrifty $1023.20, Low-Cost $1125.00, Moderate $1388.60, Liberal $1678.10, May 2026 report). This calculator applies South Dakota's own modeled cost-of-living index (94.1, where 100 = national average) to those national figures — that scaling is this site's own model, not a USDA-published South Dakota-specific figure. For other household sizes, this calculator follows USDA's own 2-step worked method — sum the cost of each person in the household, then apply USDA's own size-adjustment factor (1-person +20%, 2-person +10%, 3-person +5%, 4-person no change, 5-6-person -5%, 7+-person -10%) — using USDA's own published per-age-sex rows for a 1-adult, 2-adult, or 2-adult-plus-1-child composition (household sizes 1-3) or USDA's own exact reference-family composition (household size 4, official). Only the size-4 composition is USDA's own official reference family; sizes 1-3 and 5+ are this site's disclosed, modeled composition assumptions for a plausible household of that size, never presented as independently official. South Dakota taxes groceries at the same 4.2% rate as general merchandise — there's no grocery exemption. The effective grocery tax rate applied here is 4.2%, which is what "Annual Sales Tax on Groceries" below actually uses — NOT necessarily South Dakota's general 4.2% sales tax rate. Food-as-percent-of-income uses South Dakota's own median household income of $76,881, not a flat national assumption. Restaurant costs are estimated at $17/meal average, adjusted for local prices.