Butchers and Meat Cutters in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,159
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$5,151
13.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,504
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
$37,310
Kept after tax
$32,159
Worth in national money
$36,504
State rank
43
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is among the lower-paying states for butchers and meat cutters. The middle earner takes $37,310, ranking 43 of 51 states — about 7.05% 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: 402 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 $37,310 you keep $32,159, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $36,504 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $41,060, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Dakota ranks 43 of 51 for butchers and meat cutters, with a median of $37,310 — about 7.05% 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.
- Butchers and meat cutters occupies position 402 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 butchers and meat cutters on $37,310 is $32,159. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $36,504 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 $41,060 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Butchers and Meat Cutters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,060 |
| This salary | $37,310 |
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 | $32,159 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,159 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,411 |
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 | $37,310 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,125 |
| 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 butchers and meat cutters in South Dakota earn under $37,310 and half over. The published range runs $33,830 at the tenth percentile to $56,060 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $32,159 take-home in South Dakota comes from $37,310. 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 402 of 457.
- Two cautions on $36,504, the adjusted value of that $37,310 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 402 of 457 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for butchers and meat cutters in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,830 to $56,060; 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 $32,159, from $37,310, 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 402 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 51 for it.
- This $36,504 adjusted figure, worked from $37,310, 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 402 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 402 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 $41,060, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $33,830 at the bottom tenth to $56,060 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $36,504.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $32,159 survives, because South Dakota levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $41,060. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($33,830 to $56,060) 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 $36,504 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 $32,159 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.