Overall
- Sioux Falls
- 90.6
- Santa Fe
- 98.8
Diff +8.1 RPP
Sioux Falls vs Santa Fe
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Santa Fe is 9% more expensive than Sioux Falls.
9% more expensive
Santa Fe, NM is 9% more expensive than Sioux Falls, SD-MN on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 98.8 vs 90.6). A $100,000 salary in Sioux Falls buys about the same as $108,977 in Santa Fe; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 90.6 (Sioux Falls) vs 98.8 (Santa Fe)
- $100k in Sioux Falls ≈ $108,977 purchasing power in Santa Fe
- Rents drives the gap (+30.4 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair SD:NM 90.6→98.8
TIER-GAP · CROSS-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-BELOW · PP-SHIFT
- TIER-GAP Clear tier gap
- CROSS-STATE SD × NM
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-BELOW Both below 100
- PP-SHIFT PP shift
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Category Breakdown
Goods
- Sioux Falls
- 95.5
- Santa Fe
- 96.1
Diff +0.7 RPP
Services
- Sioux Falls
- 80.7
- Santa Fe
- 76.7
Diff -4.0 RPP
Rents
- Sioux Falls
- 77.6
- Santa Fe
- 108.0
Diff +30.4 RPP
| Category | Sioux Falls | Santa Fe | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 90.6 | 98.8 | +8.1 |
| Goods | 95.5 | 96.1 | +0.7 |
| Services | 80.7 | 76.7 | -4.0 |
| Rents | 77.6 | 108.0 | +30.4 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Sioux Falls 90.6
Santa Fe 98.8
Goods
Sioux Falls 95.5
Santa Fe 96.1
Services
Sioux Falls 80.7
Santa Fe 76.7
Rents
Sioux Falls 77.6
Santa Fe 108.0
Vertical line = national average (100)
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Rents creates the largest separation: Santa Fe is 30.4 points higher. But services move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Sioux Falls, SD-MN and Santa Fe, NM sit in clearly different price tiers, separated by 8.1 RPP points. At this distance, treating the same nominal salary as equivalent would materially change purchasing power.
Both metros remain below the U.S. benchmark of 100. This comparison chooses between two below-average price levels; “more expensive” here does not mean nationally expensive.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Sioux Falls corresponds to $108,977 in Santa Fe.
Sioux Falls
90.6
Cost Index
Santa Fe
98.8
Cost Index
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Sioux Falls would need to be in Santa Fe for the same purchasing power:
| In Sioux Falls | In Santa Fe | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $54,489 | +$4,489 |
| $75,000 | $81,733 | +$6,733 |
| $100,000 | $108,977 | +$8,977 |
| $150,000 | $163,466 | +$13,466 |
$ in Sioux Falls = in Santa Fe
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (90.6 → 98.8), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
How the Price Gap Changed
Sioux Falls and Santa Fe share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap widened, moving from 3.6 to 8.1 RPP points. Santa Fe remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Services changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 6.9 points between the first and latest shared releases (2.9 to 4.0 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Sioux Falls RPP | Santa Fe RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 94.4 | 98.0 | 3.6 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2012 | 94.1 | 102.1 | 8.0 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2016 | 93.5 | 98.4 | 5.0 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2020 | 93.8 | 96.6 | 2.9 points Santa Fe higher |
| 2024 | 90.6 | 98.8 | 8.1 points Santa Fe higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Santa Fe more expensive than Sioux Falls?
Santa Fe is 9% more expensive than Sioux Falls. The overall cost index is 98.8 vs 90.6 (national average = 100).
What salary in Santa Fe equals $100K in Sioux Falls?
A $100,000 salary in Sioux Falls has the same purchasing power as $108,977 in Santa Fe. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Sioux Falls and Santa Fe?
Rents in Sioux Falls are indexed at 77.6 while Santa Fe is at 108.0 (national average = 100). Santa Fe has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.