Infant mortality in 2000 averaged 5.5 per 1,000 live births. In 1999, only 740 legal abortions were performed, for a rate of 5 per 1,000 women, the 2nd lowest in the US. In 2000, the overall death rate was 952.3 per 100,000 inhabitants, well above the US rate of 873.1. In the same year, 22.0% of persons 18 years of age and older were smokers; the rate of death from lung disease was 60.6 per 100,000 population in 2000. Death caused by heart disease occurred at a rate of 285.5 per 100,000 population in 2000; the mortality rate for cerebrovascular disease was 76.0. A total of 191 AIDS cases had been reported in South Dakota through 2001
South Dakota's 50 community hospitals had 103,907 admissions and 4,465 beds in 2001. There were 3,472 full-time registered nurses and 338 full-time licensed practical nurses in 2001 and only 214 physicians per 100,000 population in 2000. The average expense of a community hospital for care was $1,462.20 per inpatient day in 2001.
Federal government grants to cover the Medicare and Medicaid services in 2001 totaled $341 million; 120,019 enrollees received Medicare benefits that year. Only 9.3% of South Dakota's residents were uninsured in 2002.