Construction and Building Inspectors in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$54,359
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$10,581
16.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$61,705
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
$64,940
Kept after tax
$54,359
Worth in national money
$61,705
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for construction and building inspectors is on the low side in South Dakota. The middle earner gets $64,940. That is 37 of 51 states, and about 13.05% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 457 occupations South Dakota reports figures for, this is number 145.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $64,940 you keep $54,359, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $61,705 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $67,260, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For construction and building inspectors, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $64,940, ranking 37 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 13.05%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In South Dakota's occupational distribution, construction and building inspectors sits at 145 of 457 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for construction and building inspectors on $64,940 is $54,359. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $61,705 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 $67,260 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Construction and Building Inspectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,940 |
| Top tenth earn over | $89,050 |
| This salary | $64,940 |
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 | $54,359 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,359 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,766 |
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 | $64,940 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,742 |
| 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 construction and building inspectors in South Dakota earn under $64,940 and half over. The published range runs $47,670 at the tenth percentile to $89,050 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $54,359, from $64,940, 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 145 of 457 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $61,705, the adjusted value of that $64,940 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 145 of 457 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for construction and building inspectors in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,670 to $89,050; 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 $54,359 from $64,940. 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 145 of 457 locally.
- This $61,705 adjusted figure, worked from $64,940, 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 145 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 145 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 $67,260, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $47,670 at the bottom tenth to $89,050 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $61,705 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $54,359 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?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $67,260. 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 ($47,670 to $89,050) 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 $61,705 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 $54,359 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.