Conservation Scientists in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,577
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$13,823
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,034
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
$76,400
Kept after tax
$62,577
Worth in national money
$71,034
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. South Dakota is 20 of 51 states for conservation scientists, with a middle wage of $76,400. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within South Dakota this is well-paid work. Of 457 occupations with published figures in the state, conservation scientists ranks 98 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- South Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $76,400 the take-home is $62,577; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $71,034 would nationally. The average lands at $76,060, below the middle of the range.
- South Dakota ranks 20 of 51 for conservation scientists at $76,400. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Ranked against every occupation South Dakota publishes a median for, conservation scientists sits 98 of 457 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for conservation scientists in South Dakota, on $76,400, is $62,577 — equivalent to $71,034 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 $76,060 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Conservation Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,100 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $100,420 |
| This salary | $76,400 |
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 | $62,577 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,577 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,637 |
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 | $76,400 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$9,168 |
| 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 $76,400. The published range is $51,100 up to $100,420, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Dakota's $62,577, worked from $76,400. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 98 of 457.
- Two cautions on $71,034, the adjusted value of that $76,400 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 98 of 457 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for conservation scientists in South Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $51,100 to $100,420. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The South Dakota take-home of $62,577, on $76,400 for work ranking 98 of 457 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 98 of 457 in the state.
- This $71,034 adjusted figure, worked from $76,400, 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 98 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 98 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $51,100 at the bottom tenth to $100,420 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $71,034 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $62,577 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($51,100 to $100,420) 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 $71,034 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 $62,577 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.