Fargo, ND · Sioux Falls, SD
Sioux Falls is 2% cheaper than Fargo overall.
Home Price
Fargo: $290,000
Sioux: $310,000
Monthly Rent
Fargo: $1,073/mo
Sioux: $865/mo
COL Index
Fargo: 93
Sioux: 91
Median Income
Fargo: $67,200
Sioux: $64,200
Median Home Price
Monthly Rent (Median)
Median Household Income
Property Tax Rate
Cost of Living Index
100 = national average
Avg. Commute
Unemployment Rate
Median Age
A $100,000 salary in Fargo has the same purchasing power as $97,849 in Sioux Falls — based on each city's cost of living index.
Homes in Sioux Falls are 7% cheaper (-$20,000 less). That's a significant down payment and monthly payment difference.
Renting in Sioux Falls saves you $208/month — $2,496 per year. Median rent: $1,073/mo in Fargo vs $865/mo in Sioux Falls.
On a median-priced home, Fargo owners pay roughly $2,900/year in property taxes vs $3,720/year in Sioux Falls. That's a $820 annual difference.
Median household income is $67,200 in Fargo and $64,200 in Sioux Falls. Incomes are similar, so cost of living differences matter more.
Average commute is 17 minutes in Fargo vs 18 minutes in Sioux Falls. Commute times are nearly identical.
To maintain the same lifestyle when moving from Fargo to Sioux Falls, here's the salary you'd need:
| Salary in Fargo | Equivalent in Sioux Falls | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $48,925 | -$1,075 |
| $75,000 | $73,387 | -$1,613 |
| $100,000 | $97,849 | -$2,151 |
| $150,000 | $146,774 | -$3,226 |
| $200,000 | $195,699 | -$4,301 |
* Calculated using cost of living indices (national average = 100). Does not account for state income tax differences.
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Cost of Living
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Based on cost of living indices, Sioux Falls is cheaper overall. Fargo has a COL index of 93 while Sioux Falls scores 91 (national average = 100).
The median home price in Fargo is $290,000 vs $310,000 in Sioux Falls — a difference of $20,000 (7%).
Use the salary equivalence table above. For example, a $100K salary in Fargo is equivalent to $97,849 in Sioux Falls in terms of purchasing power.
Fargo has a lower property tax rate (1% vs 1.2%). On a median-priced home, that means paying $2,900/year vs $3,720/year.
Median monthly rent: $1,073 in Fargo vs $865 in Sioux Falls. Annualized: $12,876 vs $10,380.
Fargo: $67,200/yr. Sioux Falls: $64,200/yr (Census ACS).
Lower-cost Sioux Falls typically lets remote-workers keeping a coastal salary stretch further. Higher-cost cities usually win on amenities and labor-market depth.
Numbers are pulled from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI (home values, rent), the U.S. Census Bureau ACS (income), and BEA RPP (cost-of-living index). Each value is timestamped on the page.
Source feeds refresh on their native cadence — hourly for mortgage rates, monthly for ZHVI/ZORI, annually for ACS. Page caches revalidate every 24 hours via Next.js ISR.
No. This page is educational reference using public data and standard formulas. It is not personalized tax, legal, or investment advice. Consult a licensed professional for material decisions.
City-level metrics (median home price, median rent, median household income, property tax rate, COL index, commute, unemployment, median age) are sourced from Zillow ZHVI/ZORI[1], Census ACS 5-year estimates[2], BEA Regional Price Parities[3], Tax Foundation[4], and BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics[5].
The Cost of Living Index uses 100 = national average (C2ER methodology[6]): values above 100 indicate a city is more expensive than the national average, below 100 less expensive.
Salary equivalence uses the ratio adjustedSalary = salary × (colDestination / colOrigin). This accounts for cost-of-living differences but does not model state income tax variation, which can be significant.
Annual property tax is computed as medianHomePrice × propertyTaxRate. Actual assessed value may differ from sale price. Effective rates vary within a metro; these are metro-wide medians.
Commute-hours calculations assume 250 working days/year and a round-trip commute. "Tied" in the comparison table means values within ±1% of each other.
Last reviewed reflects the maximum retrievedAt timestamp across every sourced dataset feeding this page. When any source refreshes, the next ISR revalidation (every 24 hours) picks the new date.
Cost of living data sourced from [6] C2ER, [2] U.S. Census Bureau, and [1] Zillow Research. Tax rates from [4] Tax Foundation. Last reviewed .