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South Dakota Minimum Car Insurance (25/50/25)

Use the calculator to see how South Dakota's minimum limits would apply to a hypothetical injury bill and property-damage bill.

This tool is an estimate for education only. It is not legal advice, not an insurance quote, and not a prediction of what a court, insurer, or claims adjuster would pay. Coverage rules, statutes, and case law change. Read the official source linked on this page. Nothing you type into the calculator is collected or sent anywhere; the math runs in your browser.

Short answer: South Dakota requires $25,000 bodily injury per person / $50,000 bodily injury per accident / $25,000 property damage. This page prefills the calculator for South Dakota and cites the official source.

Reviewed November 7, 2026

What South Dakota requires

South Dakota Codified Law § 32-35-70 sets the minimum motor-vehicle liability amounts at $25,000 for injury or death of one person, $50,000 for two or more people in one crash, and $25,000 for property damage. South Dakota also uses an unusual slight-versus-gross comparative-negligence rule, which the companion fault calculator explains without inventing a numeric cutoff.

A common way to write split limits is 25/50/25. The first number is bodily injury per person, the second is bodily injury for everyone hurt in one crash, and the third is property damage. This calculator's injury example uses only the per-person number because it assumes one injured person.

Official source

South Dakota Codified Laws § 32-35-70. SDCL 32-35-70 (official South Dakota Legislature)

Reviewed November 7, 2026. Compare other states on the sources table or the machine-readable data file.

For the recovery rule that would apply if you were partly at fault in South Dakota, use the fault / comparative negligence calculator.

FAQ

What is the minimum car insurance in South Dakota?

The primary source cited on this page states that South Dakota requires $25,000 bodily injury per person / $50,000 bodily injury per accident / $25,000 property damage. Always read the official source because statutes and department guidance can change.

Does South Dakota's minimum cover my own injuries or my own car?

Liability coverage pays people you injure or whose property you damage. It does not pay your own medical bills or repair your own car. Collision and comprehensive are separate optional coverages.

What if medical or repair bills are higher than the minimum?

The calculator subtracts South Dakota's per-person bodily-injury minimum from a one-person injury bill and subtracts the property-damage minimum from a property bill. Anything above those two limits is the simple gap shown.

Is uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage required in South Dakota?

The sources we opened for the liability limits did not state that UM is a mandatory statewide coverage in the same way liability is. Offer-and-rejection rules vary; read the official source.

How does this calculator work?

You enter a hypothetical injury bill for one other person and a hypothetical property-damage bill. The script, running only in your browser, compares those bills with the verified per-person BI limit and PD limit and shows the covered amount and the leftover gap. It does not send your numbers to our servers.

Is this legal advice or an insurance quote?

No. This South Dakota page and calculator are general information based on the official source cited below, reviewed November 7, 2026. They are not a quote and not advice about your claim or what limits you should buy.