Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,105
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$9,785
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,011
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
$60,890
Kept after tax
$51,105
Worth in national money
$58,011
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. South Dakota pays this job around $60,890 at the midpoint, 31 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in South Dakota, this sits in the middle: 175 of 457 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $60,890 you keep $51,105 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $58,011 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $60,940, since top earners drag the number up.
- For clinical laboratory technologists and technicians the South Dakota median is $60,890, ranking 31 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Clinical laboratory technologists and technicians ranks 175 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.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $51,105 after the full tax stack, from $60,890. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $58,011 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $60,940 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,550 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,560 |
| This salary | $60,890 |
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 | $51,105 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,105 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,421 |
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 | $60,890 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,690 |
| 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 clinical laboratory technologists and technicians in South Dakota earn under $60,890 and half over. The published range runs $37,550 at the tenth percentile to $81,560 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $51,105, from $60,890, 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 175 of 457 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $58,011 uses one figure for the whole of South Dakota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 457 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 175.
- Figures are distribution medians for clinical laboratory technologists and technicians in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,550 to $81,560; 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 $51,105 from $60,890. 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 175 of 457 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $58,011, worked from $60,890, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular South Dakota address, on work sitting at 175 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $37,550, the highest tenth $81,560, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. South Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $58,011 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $51,105 of this wage reaches your account, because South Dakota takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($37,550) and the ninetieth ($81,560) 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 $58,011 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 $51,105 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.