Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$64,336
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$14,564
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$73,030
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
$78,900
Kept after tax
$64,336
Worth in national money
$73,030
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. South Dakota's middle earner gets $78,900, putting the state 16 of 51 — about 1.15% ahead of the national figure.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 457 occupations South Dakota reports, this job comes in at 85 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $78,900 you keep $64,336 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $73,030 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $81,510, since top earners drag the number up.
- For claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators, South Dakota sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $78,900, ranking 16 of 51 and running about 1.15% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators ranks 85 of 457 occupations by median in South Dakota, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $64,336 after the full tax stack, from $78,900. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $73,030 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $81,510 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $104,190 |
| This salary | $78,900 |
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 | $64,336 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,336 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,824 |
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 | $78,900 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$9,426 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in South Dakota earn less than $78,900. The published range is $58,160 up to $104,190, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $64,336 take-home in South Dakota comes from $78,900. 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 85 of 457.
- Two cautions on $73,030, the adjusted value of that $78,900 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 85 of 457 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators in South Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $58,160 to $104,190. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $64,336, from $78,900, 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 85 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 51 for it.
- This $73,030 adjusted figure, worked from $78,900, 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 85 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 85 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $81,510, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $58,160 and the top tenth $104,190, so most people doing this work in South Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $73,030 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $64,336 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?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $81,510. 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 ($58,160 to $104,190) 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 $73,030 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 $64,336 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.