South Dakota vs Wyoming: two economies side by side

South Dakota and Wyoming share a border. Here are the two economies on the same measures, with the rank of each among 51 states and DC.

Plains · Rocky MountainSouth Dakota leads on 8, Wyoming on 3 of 11 measures

Indicator	A · SD	B · WY	Ranks
GDP, 2025	$82.0B	$52.5B	47 · 50
Real GDP growth, 2025	+1.8%	+0.13%	32 · 49
Real growth a year since 2015	+1.6%	+0.02%	30 · 51
GDP per person	$87,694	$89,157	21 · 19
Income per person, 2025	$78,999	$91,109	14 · 5
Real income per person (2017 $)	$69,153	$75,501	5 · 2
Price level (US = 100)	88.6	92.7	46 · 36
Housing costs (US = 100)	67.6	71.1	43 · 41
Unemployment, September 2026	2.0%	3.0%	1 · 7
Population	935,094	588,753	46 · 51
Population growth a year since 2020	+1.0%	+0.38%	10 · 31

Highlighted: the higher value, or the lower one for prices and unemployment. BEA (GDP, income, price parities), BLS (unemployment).

Fig. 1Real GDP, index 2015 = 100Chained 2017 dollars

South DakotaWyoming

Fig. 2Unemployment rateMonthly, seasonally adjusted, since 2015

South DakotaWyoming

Industry mix, 2025

Share of each state’s GDP. Sorted by the gap between the two.

Industry	SD	WY	Gap, pp	Larger in
Finance & insurance	18.3%	3.9%	14.4	SD
Mining, oil & gas	0.2%	11.6%	11.3	WY
Agriculture	8.6%	1.7%	6.9	SD
Government	9.9%	15.5%	5.6	WY
Transportation & warehousing	2.2%	7.7%	5.5	WY
Health care	9.5%	4.5%	5.1	SD
Real estate	9.7%	13.0%	3.3	WY
Wholesale trade	6.6%	3.7%	2.9	SD
Construction	4.3%	6.3%	1.9	WY
Manufacturing	6.5%	7.7%	1.2	WY
Utilities	1.7%	2.8%	1.1	WY
Retail trade	6.7%	6.1%	0.6	SD
Management of companies	1.1%	0.5%	0.6	SD
Arts & recreation	0.7%	1.1%	0.4	WY
Professional services	3.8%	4.2%	0.4	WY
Information	2.1%	1.8%	0.4	SD
Administrative & waste services	1.6%	1.9%	0.3	WY
Other services	2.1%	1.8%	0.3	SD
Accommodation & food	3.8%	4.0%	0.2	WY
Education	0.5%	0.4%	0.2	SD