Athletic Trainers in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,281
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$9,339
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,941
South Dakota costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in South Dakota — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$58,620
Kept after tax
$49,281
Worth in national money
$55,941
State rank
43
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is among the lower-paying states for athletic trainers. The middle earner takes $58,620, ranking 43 of 50 states — about 6.24% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 457 occupations South Dakota reports figures for, this is number 193.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $58,620 you keep $49,281, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $55,941 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $57,880, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- South Dakota ranks 43 of 50 for athletic trainers, with a median of $58,620 — about 6.24% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- In South Dakota's occupational distribution, athletic trainers sits at 193 of 457 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for athletic trainers on $58,620 is $49,281. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $55,941 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $57,880 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Athletic Trainers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,620 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,130 |
| This salary | $58,620 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in South Dakota | $49,281 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,281 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,227 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $58,620 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,322 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of athletic trainers in South Dakota earn under $58,620 and half over. The published range runs $47,630 at the tenth percentile to $64,130 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $49,281 take-home in South Dakota comes from $58,620. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 193 of 457.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,941 uses one figure for the whole of South Dakota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 457 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 193.
- Figures are distribution medians for athletic trainers in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,630 to $64,130; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $49,281, from $58,620, assumes a single South Dakota filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 193 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $55,941, worked from $58,620, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular South Dakota address, on work sitting at 193 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $47,630 and the top tenth $64,130, so most people doing this work in South Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. South Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $55,941 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $49,281 survives, because South Dakota levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($47,630 to $64,130) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to South Dakota rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
South Dakota's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $55,941 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
South Dakota levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $49,281 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.