Which South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota City Is the Least Energy Efficient in America?

It's one of the worst parts of dealing with winter weather - skyrocketing heating bills.

And for residents of one city in the Tri-State (South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota) area, things are especially bad when the temperature drops below freezing.

A new study done by HVAC Gnome looked at the energy costs, cost inflators, and lack of energy efficiency in nearly 500 cities across America, and they found that one South Dakota city is among the worst.

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Rapid City was one of eight places that hold the distinction of being the least energy-efficient in the U.S (the others are Castle Rock, Greeley, and Longmont, Colorado; Overland Park, Kansas; Bismarck, North Dakota; and Independence, O'Fallon, and St. Joseph, Missouri).

Overall, South Dakota's second-largest city was the 26th most expensive to heat a home in the nation.

One other city from the Mount Rushmore State, Sioux Falls, was 44th. The city tied with Springfield, Missouri as the 20th least energy-efficient in America.

Iowa placed a pair in the top 50 most expensive (Davenport #47 and Cedar Rapids #50). Just one Minnesota city landed in the top 50 (Duluth #40).

Cities in one state dominated the top of the most expensive list. Missouri had three of the top five overall.

MOST EXPENSIVE CITIES TO HEAT A HOME IN WINTER

1. Springfield, Missouri
2. Cleveland, Ohio
3. Independence, Missouri
4. Flint, Michigan
5. St. Joseph, Missouri
6. Topeka, Kansas
7. Kansas City, Kansas
8. Columbia, Missouri
9. Dayton, Ohio
10. Detroit, Michigan

As for the places that cost the least to heat in the winter, one state was the runaway winner in the rankings. A staggering 94 of the 100 cheapest cities were in California, with Los Angeles, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale ranking the top three spots.

The only non-Golden State cities in the top 100 were five from Washington: Seattle (#18), Redmond (#60), Bellevue (#69), Kirkland (#74), and Everett, plus one from Oregon: Hillsboro (#91).