Broadcast Technicians in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,013
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$4,137
12.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,798
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
$32,150
Kept after tax
$28,013
Worth in national money
$31,798
State rank
44
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is among the lower-paying states for broadcast technicians. The middle earner takes $32,150, ranking 44 of 47 states — about 46.03% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in South Dakota, this one sits low: 432 of 457 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $32,150 you keep $28,013, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $31,798 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $37,600, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Dakota ranks 44 of 47 for broadcast technicians, with a median of $32,150 — about 46.03% 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.
- Broadcast technicians occupies position 432 of 457 in South Dakota's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for broadcast technicians on $32,150 is $28,013. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $31,798 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 $37,600 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Broadcast Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $32,150 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,360 |
| This salary | $32,150 |
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 | $28,013 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,013 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,971 |
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 | $32,150 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,593 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $32,150 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $27,270 and the ninetieth is $55,360 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Dakota's $28,013, worked from $32,150. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 432 of 457.
- Two cautions on $31,798, the adjusted value of that $32,150 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of South Dakota. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 432 of 457 locally.
- The South Dakota median of $32,150 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $27,270 to $55,360. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The South Dakota take-home of $28,013, on $32,150 for work ranking 432 of 457 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 432 of 457 in the state.
- This $31,798 adjusted figure, worked from $32,150, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 432 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 432 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $37,600, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $27,270, the highest tenth $55,360, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in South Dakota sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $31,798 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $28,013 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?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in South Dakota is $37,600. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($27,270) and the ninetieth ($55,360) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $31,798 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 $28,013 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.