South Dakota Is One of the Top States in America to Own a Home

When it comes to having your own place, South Dakota is a perfect place to do it.

The Mount Rushmore State is in the top ten on Smart Asset's list of Best States for Homeowners, which looks at four key areas:

Median home price
One-year home value appreciation rate
Home value-to-income ratio
Effective property tax rate

Get our free mobile app

South Dakota is number-nine overall thanks in part to the lowest rate of foreclosure in America.

The state is one of only 15 to see home values increase by 14 percent (14.38%) or more between late 2021 and 2022, rising to a median price of $268,094.

West Virginia grabbed the top spot on the list thanks to the lowest percentage of households that are housing cost-burdened, with those who pay more than 30 percent of their income on housing (14.86%).

The Mountain State also ranks second for both home value-to-household income ratio (2.79) and median annual property taxes ($785).

BEST STATES TO OWN A HOME

West Virginia
Indiana
Idaho
Wyoming
North Carolina
Wisconsin
Vermont
Kentucky
South Dakota
Montana

Iowa and Minnesota both landed in the bottom half of the rankings.

The Hawkeye State is 27th with a median home price of $181,448 (fifth lowest in America), a one-year home value appreciation rate of 10.16 percent, a 2.66 home value-to-income ratio (lowest in America), and an effective property tax rate of 1.5 percent (10th highest in America).

The North Star State is 38th with a median home price of $311,012, a one-year home value appreciation rate of 7.39 percent (third lowest in America), a 3.67 home value-to-income ratio, and an effective property tax rate of 1.02 percent.

California is the worst state for home ownership with the second-highest home value-to-income ratio (7.63), second-lowest one-year home value appreciation rate (7.12%), and second-highest median home price ($714,604).

WORST STATES TO OWN A HOME

California
Maryland
New York
Illinois
Connecticut
Alaska
Massachusetts
Michigan
Texas
Louisiana

LOOK: The oldest cities in America

Though the United States doesn’t have as long of a history as some Old World countries, it still has plenty of historical charm. Stacker brings you a list of the 50 oldest cities in America.

LOOK: Here is the richest town in each state

Just saying the names of these towns immediately conjures up images of grand mansions, luxury cars, and ritzy restaurants. Read on to see which town in your home state took the title of the richest location and which place had the highest median income in the country. Who knows—your hometown might even be on this list.

READ ON: See the States Where People Live the Longest

Stacker used data from the 2020 County Health Rankings to rank every state's average life expectancy from lowest to highest. The 2020 County Health Rankings values were calculated using mortality counts from the 2016-2018 National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey and America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2019 data were also used to provide demographics on the senior population of each state and the state's rank on senior health care, respectively.

Read on to learn the average life expectancy in each state.

Source: South Dakota Is One of the Top States in America to Own a Home