This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.
2026 cost estimates for bankruptcy in South Dakota, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a bankruptcy in South Dakota costs on average $2,550, typically $1,800-$3,600 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. Typical attorney rates run $140 to $260 per hour. A moderate-complexity case typically takes 3-5 years to resolve. Common related costs include chapter 13 filing fee ($313) and credit counseling course ($25-$50).
Data verified: June 29, 2026
| Complexity | Low | Median | High | Typical Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | $850 | $1,300 | $2,100 | 3-4 months |
| Moderate | $1,800 | $2,550 | $3,600 | 3-5 years |
| Complex | $2,200 | $3,650 | $5,800 | 3-5 years |
Last verified: June 2026
$140 – $260/ hour
Median: $200/hr
3-5 years
For moderate complexity cases
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</script>Bankruptcy cost formation splits along the two most common filing types. Chapter 7 (liquidation) is a shorter federal process, so attorney fees are usually charged as a flat fee covering the whole case. Chapter 13 (repayment plan) requires the attorney to stay involved for the full 3-5 year repayment period, so the fee is higher and is often split into an upfront portion plus ongoing amounts paid through the repayment plan itself.
On top of the attorney fee, every filer pays a federal court filing fee (set by statute, the same nationwide regardless of state) plus mandatory credit counseling and debtor education course fees. Case complexity within either chapter — multiple creditors, contested exemptions, business assets, or a means-test dispute — adds attorney hours beyond the base flat fee, which is why complex-case costs run well above the simple-case median shown on this page.
Take a moderate-complexity bankruptcy matter in South Dakota. The recorded median total is $2,550, with reported quotes clustering between $1,800 and $3,600. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $363–$413, which leaves roughly $2,137–$2,187 of the South Dakota median as professional time — the part that differs between quotes. One further recorded fee is not itemised above and is not in that total.
At $2,550, the median bankruptcy cost in South Dakota runs 27% below the $3,479 national average across all 50 states and DC.
South Dakota carries 3 rows — simple, $850–$2,100 at $120–$220/hr over 3-4 months; moderate, $1,800–$3,600 at $140–$260/hr over 3-5 years; complex, $2,200–$5,800 at $160–$320/hr over 3-5 years — on 5 shared citations. Those figures place it in the lower quarter of the table.
$2,550 is a median, not the middle of the band — $750 above the $1,800 floor, $1,050 under the $3,600 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 47.
Sorted by median cost, South Dakota is 44th of 47 for a bankruptcy, placing it in the lowest-cost quarter of the table: $1,050 and 29% below the $3,600 midpoint, with 3 states recording a lower median still.
In the bankruptcy table South Dakota falls between Alabama at $2,450 and Louisiana at $2,650, $100 above the first and $100 below the second.
Within three percent of South Dakota's $2,550 there is no other tracked state at all, so the figure is not part of a cluster and small changes to it would move the state several rows.
The two measures nearly agree: 42nd of 47 on hourly rate at $200 an hour, 44th on total cost, 2 places apart.
| Rank | State | Median | Against South Dakota |
|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | Tennessee | $2,950 | +$400 |
| 39 | Mississippi | $2,900 | +$350 |
| 40 | West Virginia | $2,900 | +$350 |
| 41 | Oklahoma | $2,800 | +$250 |
| 42 | New Mexico | $2,700 | +$150 |
| 43 | Louisiana | $2,650 | +$100 |
| 44 | South Dakota | $2,550 | — |
| 45 | Alabama | $2,450 | −$100 |
| 46 | Arkansas | $2,400 | −$150 |
| 47 | Kentucky | $2,350 | −$200 |
$100 up or $100 down moves South Dakota a row, and only 6 tracked states sit within ten percent of the South Dakota figure: 3 above it and 3 below. The position is comparatively well separated from its neighbours.
Climbing five places would mean passing Mississippi, West Virginia, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana and adding $350 to the $2,550 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky: $200.
$1,850 short of Hawaii ($4,400), $200 clear of Kentucky ($2,350).
At $200 an hour, the $2,550 median represents about 13 hours of attorney time — a matter measured in days of work, not weeks. The peer median is 14 hours: South Dakota reaches its total in 1 fewer implied hours, because the rate rather than the workload carries more of it.
The escalation is comparatively shallow on hours. A complex bankruptcy costs 2.8x a simple one in South Dakota, but the implied workload only rises 1.9x — 8 hours at $160 becomes 15 hours at $240 — meaning the senior-rate premium of 1.5x carries an unusually large share of the increase.
The South Dakota moderate band spans $1,800 to $3,600 — $1,800 — which is $750 narrower than the peer-median band of $2,550, so quoted bankruptcy figures cluster more tightly here than in most tracked states. End to end that is 9 hours at $200.
By implied hours South Dakota falls to 45th of 47 at 13 hours, 1 places below its 44th on cost — the bankruptcy total arriving on less recorded work.
100% up the $1,800–$3,600 band sits the $3,600 table midpoint, buying 18 hours at $200 against the 13 the local bankruptcy median implies — 5 hours apart.
| Measure | South Dakota | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $2,550 | 44th |
| Hourly median | $200 | 42nd |
| Implied hours | 13 | 45th |
| Simple median | $1,300 | 36th |
| Complex median | $3,650 | 45th |
$200 an hour puts South Dakota between South Carolina ($200) and Louisiana ($195) — not the bankruptcy cost pairing.
New Mexico, South Carolina record the same $200: rate cannot separate them, totals do.
$2,550 buys 16 hours at $160, 13 at $200, 11 at $240.
| Rank | State | Median rate |
|---|---|---|
| 40 | New Mexico | $200 |
| 41 | South Carolina | $200 |
| 42 | South Dakota | $200 |
| 43 | Louisiana | $195 |
| 44 | Alabama | $185 |
Ranked tier by tier, South Dakota slides 9 places downward: 36th at the simple tier, 44th at moderate, 45th at complex. Its headline moderate position sits between the two extremes rather than summarising them.
$1,300 is 36th of 47 on a straightforward bankruptcy, under New Mexico ($1,300) and over Tennessee ($1,250), $200 under the $1,500 tier midpoint.
$3,650 is 45th of 47 once contested, between Alabama ($3,800) and Arkansas ($3,450), $1,450 off the $5,100 tier midpoint.
The three bands are continuous in South Dakota: the simple tier reaches $2,100 where the moderate tier starts at $1,800, and the moderate tier reaches $3,600 where the complex tier starts at $2,200. A single quoted figure can therefore belong to two different tiers, and the tier label — not the number — is what identifies which.
| Tier | South Dakota | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $1,300 | 36th | $1,500 | 8 |
| moderate | $2,550 | 44th | $3,600 | 13 |
| complex | $3,650 | 45th | $5,100 | 15 |
$1,300 puts South Dakota 36th of 47 on straightforward matters, 8 up on its moderate position, and $200 (13%) under the $1,500 tier midpoint.
8 implied hours at $160: 62% of the moderate tier's 13, over 3-4 months.
New Mexico ($1,300) and Tennessee ($1,250) bracket it — a $50 window.
4 states record a simple-tier median within three percent of $1,300, denser than the 0 around the moderate row.
$3,650 drops South Dakota to 45th of 47 on contested matters, 1 below its moderate position and $1,450 (28%) under the $5,100 tier midpoint.
15 implied hours at $240: 115% of the moderate tier's 13, over 3-5 years.
Alabama ($3,800) and Arkansas ($3,450) bracket it — a $350 window.
Nothing else sits within three percent of the $3,650 here, against 0 at the moderate tier.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 34 | Missouri | $1,300 |
| 35 | New Mexico | $1,300 |
| 36 | South Dakota | $1,300 |
| 37 | Tennessee | $1,250 |
| 38 | Indiana | $1,200 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 43 | Kentucky | $3,900 |
| 44 | Alabama | $3,800 |
| 45 | South Dakota | $3,650 |
| 46 | Arkansas | $3,450 |
| 47 | Oklahoma | $3,350 |
In South Dakota a bankruptcy is 6th of 8 at $2,550, between Personal Injury and Real Estate Closing. At 33% of Criminal Defense ($7,650).
Across practice areas South Dakota ranges from 40th of 47 for Real Estate Closing to 47th for Criminal Defense — a 7-place spread, with its 44th on bankruptcy inside it.
South Dakota is not equally priced in every practice area. Measured against each matter's own midpoint, Immigration runs 17% below its own midpoint while Personal Injury runs 30% below its own midpoint — a 13-point spread between the extremes.
The largest tracked median in South Dakota is 4.9x the smallest, effectively the 5.1x that the typical state records: the internal spread is ordinary even where the levels are not.
All 7 tracked matter types place South Dakota in the lower third of their tables, the bankruptcy figure included.
In percentile terms it sits at the 7th percentile of the 47 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $2,750 | $7,650 | $24,000 | 32 | 47th | −25% | Oklahoma |
| Divorce | $2,400 | $6,950 | $18,450 | 29 | 46th | −19% | Kentucky |
| DUI / DWI | $2,950 | $6,000 | $13,050 | 27 | 43rd | −19% | West Virginia |
| Immigration | $1,450 | $3,950 | $8,100 | 18 | 42nd | −17% | South Carolina |
| Personal Injury | $1,150 | $3,650 | $11,550 | — | — | −30% | — |
| Bankruptcy | $1,300 | $2,550 | $3,650 | 13 | 44th | −29% | Louisiana |
| Real Estate Closing | $800 | $1,700 | $3,800 | 9 | 40th | −24% | Kansas |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $500 | $1,550 | $4,950 | 7 | 41st | −25% | North Dakota |
Simple tier. $1,300 ÷ $160 = about 8 hours, spread over 3-4 months at roughly $371 a month. The $1,250 step to the moderate tier is 5 more hours at that rate.
Work against price. $2,550 to $3,650 is a $1,100 step weighted toward price: 2 more hours at $200 is $400, but $240 across 15 hours adds $600 — 60% of it.
Borrowing the wrong row. Alabama ($2,450) is $100 light, Louisiana ($2,650) is $100 heavy — but the $3,600 table midpoint is out by $1,050, 11x the neighbour error.
Contested against simple. At South Dakota's own recorded figures, $3,650 buys 2.8 matters at the $1,300 simple median — or, counted in time, 15 implied hours against 8, a factor of 1.9 — the two ratios differing because the rate rises with the tier.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the South Dakotacourt's own schedule; billing models are covered in the legal fees guide.
This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.