Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,097
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$9,783
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,002
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
$60,880
Kept after tax
$51,097
Worth in national money
$58,002
State rank
35
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $60,880, ranking 35 of 50 states — about 6.27% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in South Dakota, this sits in the middle: 176 of 457 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- South Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $60,880 the take-home is $51,097; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $58,002 would nationally. The average comes to $61,270, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- South Dakota ranks 35 of 50 for civil engineering technologists and technicians, with a median of $60,880 — about 6.27% 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.
- Civil engineering technologists and technicians ranks 176 of 457 occupations in South Dakota by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for civil engineering technologists and technicians in South Dakota, on $60,880, is $51,097 — equivalent to $58,002 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $61,270 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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: Civil Engineering Technologists and Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,880 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,340 |
| This salary | $60,880 |
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 | $51,097 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,097 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,420 |
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 | $60,880 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,687 |
| 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 civil engineering technologists and technicians in South Dakota earn under $60,880 and half over. The published range runs $47,120 at the tenth percentile to $78,340 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $51,097, from $60,880, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 176 of 457 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of South Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $58,002, the adjusted value of that $60,880 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 176 of 457 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for civil engineering technologists and technicians in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,120 to $78,340; 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.
- Take-home for South Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $51,097 from $60,880. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 176 of 457 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $58,002 — the adjusted value of that $60,880 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 176 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $47,120 and the top tenth $78,340, so most people doing this work in South Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $58,002.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $51,097 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 ($47,120 to $78,340) 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 $58,002 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 $51,097 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.