North Dakota and South Dakota at a glance
North Dakota and South Dakota share a border, but a paycheck does not travel across it unchanged. A $60,000 salary leaves $32,872 a year after taxes and the four basics in North Dakota and $32,200 in South Dakota.
North Dakota comes out ahead by $671 a year ($56 a month). The calculation starts from the same gross pay in both states, subtracts federal tax, Social Security and Medicare, then each state's own income tax, and then the population-weighted cost of a one-bedroom rental, groceries, home energy and gasoline across 784,841 people in 53 counties in North Dakota and 907,428 people in 66 counties in South Dakota.
Taxes: what each paycheck loses
Federal income tax ($5,072) and FICA ($4,590) on $60,000 are the same on both sides of the border. South Dakota does not tax wages, while North Dakota takes $0 of a $60,000 salary in state income tax, so take-home pay is $0 higher in South Dakota.
At $100,000
At $100,000 take-home pay is $78,189 in North Dakota and $78,901 in South Dakota, a difference of $712. The gap widens with income because graduated state brackets take a growing share.
Living costs
One-bedroom rent averages $911 a month in North Dakota and $958 in South Dakota, so North Dakota is $47 a month cheaper for housing. Food costs $3,436 a year in both, because the USDA Thrifty Food Plan is a national figure; home energy $1,560 and $1,708, and gasoline $1,534 and $1,496. Together the basics cost $17,467 a year in North Dakota and $18,138 in South Dakota.
What the Census adds
Median household income is $76,657 in North Dakota and $75,081 in South Dakota. Homeowners pay a median of $2,468 a year in property tax in North Dakota and $2,724 in South Dakota. Commuters travel 17.9 minutes each way on average in North Dakota and 17.8 in South Dakota.
Method
Taxes use the 2025 rules for a single filer with wage income only and the standard deduction. Housing and living costs are county figures from HUD (one-bedroom Fair Market Rent), the USDA Thrifty Food Plan and state energy prices from the Energy Information Administration, averaged across each state's counties and weighted by population, so large counties count more. Local income taxes are not included. Counties differ widely inside every state, so use the county pages for a specific place.