Cost of living comparison
compared to
Montana vs. South Dakota Cost of Living Summary
Montana is 18.8% more expensive than South Dakota.
Montana vs. South Dakota Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Montana instead of South Dakota, you would:
pay 30.7% more for restaurants
|
South Dakota
|
Montana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$13.00
|
$19.71
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.33
|
$12.64
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.53
|
$2.63
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.05
|
$2.17
|
|
South Dakota vs. Montana - Cost of restaurants
pay 4.4% more for groceries
|
South Dakota
|
Montana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.80
|
$3.53
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.94
|
$8.47
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.55
|
$4.12
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.65
|
$4.27
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.17
|
$4.42
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.85
|
$2.17
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.81
|
$0.77
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.51
|
$1.82
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.69
|
$1.76
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.22
|
$0.89
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.30
|
$1.01
|
|
South Dakota vs. Montana - Cost of groceries
pay 12.5% more for transportation
|
South Dakota
|
Montana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.52
|
$3.79
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$30.00
|
$39.33
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$35,246.50
|
$33,165.71
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$15.02
|
$22.70
|
|
South Dakota vs. Montana - Cost of transportation
pay 20.2% more for housing
|
South Dakota
|
Montana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$58.99
|
$76.54
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,145.83
|
$1,573.69
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,105.14
|
$1,265.88
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$168.11
|
$157.35
|
|
South Dakota vs. Montana - Cost of housing
pay 2.0 times more for childcare
|
South Dakota
|
Montana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$833.31
|
$1,469.66
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$7,800.00
|
$18,042.22
|
|
South Dakota vs. Montana - Cost of childcare
pay 17.5% more for entertainment and sports
|
South Dakota
|
Montana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$4.00
|
$5.30
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$4.71
|
$5.04
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$9.54
|
$9.95
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$47.44
|
$64.33
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$12.25
|
$12.82
|
|
South Dakota vs. Montana - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 9.7% more for clothing
|
South Dakota
|
Montana
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$46.56
|
$57.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$43.33
|
$56.19
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$91.03
|
$95.23
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$123.17
|
$107.40
|
|
South Dakota vs. Montana - Cost of clothing
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this
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