How Much Does a Home Renovation Cost in South Dakota in 2026
The Remodeling 2025 Cost vs. Value Report (www.costvsvalue.com) gives national averages of $28,458 for a midrange minor kitchen remodel and $26,138 for a midrange bath. South Dakota carpenters earned a $23.14 median hourly wage in May 2025 versus $29.12 nationally (BLS). Hired plumbing in a home on public water or sewer needs a State Plumbing Commission license.
Kitchen and bath benchmarks, and what South Dakota carpenters earn
The report covers 119 U.S. markets; no regional figure is used here. For the report’s defined midrange minor kitchen remodel, the 2025 national job cost is $28,458 against $32,141 in resale value, or 113% of cost recouped. Its defined midrange bath remodel averages $26,138, with $20,915 recouped at resale (80%). What those two projects include is set by the report and is not restated here.
Labor is one input of any remodel bid. The Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for May 2025 counted 4,560 carpenters on South Dakota payrolls (wage and salary workers; self-employed excluded). Their median pay was $23.14 an hour, or $48,140 a year; the mean was $24.68 an hour ($51,330). For carpenters nationwide the median was $29.12 and the mean $31.55. Paychecks, not prices.
Moving a sink or adding a shower: SDCL 36-25-17
On property hooked to a public water or sewer system, SDCL 36-25-17 says no one may do licensed plumbing “unless that person is licensed by the commission.” It then lists every case where no license is required, provided the work complies with the commission’s minimum standards:
- “Plumbing on premises owned and actually occupied by the person as the person’s residence;”
- plumbing on a single-family dwelling under construction, “if the person owns the premises and intends to actually occupy the premises as the person’s residence when construction is complete;”
- “Plumbing repair work on premises where the person is employed and performing the plumbing repair work;” or
- “Plumbing repair work on the person’s own property.”
“Plumbing repair work” is narrow in § 36-25-1: it “does not include cutting into or extending water or waste lines or rough-in for new plumbing work of any kind.” Relocating a vanity or adding a tub drain extends those lines, so it is not repair work under that definition.
Administrative rule 20:53:10:03 sets the plumbing permit fee for a single-family dwelling at $110, and 20:53:10:02 prices the installation certificate form at $20; both were last amended effective July 2, 2025. SDCL 36-25-19.2 drops the state permit in two situations only. The first is plumbing repair work or fixture replacement that does not cut into or extend existing water and waste systems, is done on a building not connected to public water or sewer, or is done by full-time maintenance personnel on an employer’s business premises. The second is a political subdivision where a local plumbing permit has been issued, unless a state-conducted inspection is requested as well.
The commission’s homeowner page limits these permits to a single-family dwelling, asks for proof of ownership and a $130 payment for the homeowner installation certificate, and says a state inspector must approve an underground, a rough-in and a final inspection. It also says homeowners “are not allowed to conduct an installation on commercial or rental properties.” Licensed plumbers appear on the commission’s list of licensees, dated July 31, 2026.
New kitchen circuits and the State Electrical Commission
Under SDCL 36-16-14, a contract “for the installation of electrical wiring” may be signed only by an electrical contractor, or by a Class B electrician for residential and farm wiring. Section 36-16-15, under criteria the commission sets by rule, lists when no license is needed to install wiring: in or on the person’s own residence (with its accessory structures and parcel), the person’s own farmstead, a single-family home the person is building to live in, and private non-habitable property of the person not substantially used in a trade or business. “Residence” there means “a detached owner-occupied single-family dwelling.” Even then, service entrances over sixty amperes, circuits, and electrical parts of other apparatus remain subject to inspection and fee. More exempt classes, utility workers among them, are in § 36-16-16.
The 2% excise tax on a remodel, including materials you buy yourself
The state’s tax on a remodel is levied on the contractor. SDCL 10-46A-1 sets a contractor’s excise tax “at the rate of two percent” of a prime contractor’s gross receipts from realty improvement contracts, and § 10-46A-3 reaches materials “purchased by the person who let the contract.” The Department of Revenue’s July 2026 guide adds that gross receipts include “the greater of the cost or fair market value of materials furnished by the owner for the contractor to install.” Shopping for your own tile or fixtures therefore does not shrink the taxable base.
Floors differ. The same guide says most floor covering sales and installations “are subject to sales or use tax, not contractor’s excise tax,” listing hardwood, vinyl tile and carpet among them, while ceramic tile, terrazzo and epoxy flooring fall under the excise tax.
Questions South Dakota homeowners ask
Can I plumb my own bathroom remodel?
Yes, in a single-family home you own and live in, under the § 36-25-17 exemption. The homeowner certificate and state inspections still apply.
Does my general contractor need a state license?
Yes, a tax license. The Revenue Department requires a contractor’s excise tax license of anyone doing “repair or remodeling of existing real property.” The plumbing and electrical parts of the job need the separate trade licenses described above.
Can I still claim the federal credit for new insulation or windows?
No, for anything placed in service after December 31, 2025. That is the termination in 26 U.S.C. § 25C(i), enacted July 4, 2025 by Pub. L. 119–21, § 70505.
- Kitchen budgets by price level
- Bathroom remodel scopes
- Replacing a furnace or AC in South Dakota
- South Dakota reroofing costs
© 2025 Zonda Media, a Delaware Corporation. Complete data from the Remodeling 2025 Cost vs. Value Report can be downloaded free at www.costvsvalue.com.