Buying the median home in Brookings means financing $235,000. Against the area's $58,000 median household income, that works out to a 4.1x price-to-income ratio.
Property taxes in Brookings run 1.12% of assessed value, above the 1.1% national average. On the median home, that's $2,632 a year, or $219 added to the monthly payment.
South Dakota charges no state income tax. Every dollar of the $58,000 median household income here converts more directly into covering the $1,542/month payment.
Brookings's cost of living index is 88, below the 100 national baseline. That's on top of the housing numbers above, not instead of them.
Brookings's median home price runs 20% lower than nearby Sioux Falls: $295,000 there versus $235,000 here.