Communications Teachers, Postsecondary in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,990
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$12,310
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,961
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
$71,300
Kept after tax
$58,990
Worth in national money
$66,961
State rank
35
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Dakota pays this job a middle wage of $71,300, 35 of 48 states and about 9.26% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 119 among 457 occupations South Dakota publishes pay for.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $71,300 you keep $58,990, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $66,961 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $69,050, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- South Dakota's $71,300 median for communications teachers, postsecondary places it 35 of 48 states, about 9.26% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 119 of 457 in South Dakota places communications teachers, postsecondary in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for communications teachers, postsecondary on $71,300 is $58,990. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $66,961 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 $69,050 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Communications Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $71,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,000 |
| This salary | $71,300 |
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 | $58,990 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $58,990 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,257 |
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 | $71,300 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$8,643 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $71,300 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $50,190 and the ninetieth is $83,000 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $58,990, from $71,300, 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 119 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 $66,961 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 119.
- The South Dakota median of $71,300 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $50,190 to $83,000. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for South Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $58,990 from $71,300. 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 119 of 457 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $66,961, worked from $71,300, 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 119 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 $69,050, 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 $50,190 and the top tenth $83,000, 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 $66,961 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $58,990 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $69,050. 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 ($50,190 to $83,000) 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 $66,961 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 $58,990 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.