Clinical and Counseling Psychologists in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,201
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$14,929
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,013
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
$80,130
Kept after tax
$65,201
Worth in national money
$74,013
State rank
39
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $80,130, ranking 39 of 48 states — about 20.33% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in South Dakota. It ranks 80 out of 457 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $80,130 you keep $65,201, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $74,013 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $88,560, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Dakota ranks 39 of 48 for clinical and counseling psychologists, with a median of $80,130 — about 20.33% 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.
- Within South Dakota, clinical and counseling psychologists ranks 80 of 457 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for clinical and counseling psychologists on $80,130 is $65,201. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $74,013 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 $88,560 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Clinical and Counseling Psychologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $123,210 |
| This salary | $80,130 |
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 | $65,201 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,201 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,916 |
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 | $80,130 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$9,553 |
| 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 $80,130. The published range is $63,630 up to $123,210, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $65,201 take-home in South Dakota comes from $80,130. 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 80 of 457.
- One number stands for prices across all of South Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $74,013, the adjusted value of that $80,130 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 80 of 457 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for clinical and counseling psychologists in South Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $63,630 to $123,210. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $65,201, from $80,130, 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 80 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $74,013 — the adjusted value of that $80,130 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 80 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 $88,560, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $63,630, the highest tenth $123,210, 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 $74,013 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $65,201 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 48 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 $88,560. 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 ($63,630) and the ninetieth ($123,210) 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 $74,013 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 $65,201 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.