RAPID CITY, SD – Anchored by a record-breaking December, the City of Rapid City collected more than $91.8 million in sales tax revenue throughout 2025, marking a nearly 5 percent increase over the $87.5 million collected in 2024.
December sales tax receipts established an all-time high for a single month with more than $10.2 million tallied. This total surpassed November collections by more than $3 million and beat the previous monthly record set in June by more than $1.6 million.
For the 2025 calendar year, general fund sales tax revenue increased by 5.28 percent, ending the year 2.5 percent above budget projections. While tourism sales tax collections for December were down slightly at 0.27 percent compared to the previous year, total tourism receipts for 2025 finished 2.48 percent higher than in 2024.
“December was an exceptionally strong month and capped off a solid year overall,” said Rapid City Finance Director Daniel Ainslie. “The impacts of warm weather and several significant construction projects contributed to the December increases. Rapid City’s collections were so impressive, they impacted the year-end results for the state as a whole. The sales tax highlights the importance that shopping locally, visitor attraction and construction has on our local economy and city capital improvement projects.”
