Construction Laborers in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,908
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$6,802
14.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,166
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
$45,710
Kept after tax
$38,908
Worth in national money
$44,166
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is among the lower-paying states for construction laborers. The middle earner takes $45,710, ranking 35 of 51 states — about 2.99% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Construction laborers ranks 318 among 457 occupations South Dakota publishes pay for.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $45,710 you keep $38,908, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $44,166 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $44,310, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- South Dakota ranks 35 of 51 for construction laborers, with a median of $45,710 — about 2.99% 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.
- Position 318 of 457 in South Dakota places construction laborers 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 construction laborers on $45,710 is $38,908. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $44,166 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 $44,310 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Construction Laborers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $52,350 |
| This salary | $45,710 |
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 | $38,908 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,908 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,127 |
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 | $45,710 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,991 |
| 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 $45,710. The published range is $35,180 up to $52,350, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $38,908, from $45,710, 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 318 of 457 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $44,166, the adjusted value of that $45,710 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 318 of 457 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for construction laborers in South Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,180 to $52,350. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for South Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,908 from $45,710. 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 318 of 457 locally.
- This $44,166 adjusted figure, worked from $45,710, 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 318 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 318 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 $44,310, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $35,180 at the tenth percentile, $52,350 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $44,166.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $38,908 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.
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 $44,310. 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 ($35,180 to $52,350) 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 $44,166 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 $38,908 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.