Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,693
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$5,037
13.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,975
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
$36,730
Kept after tax
$31,693
Worth in national money
$35,975
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. South Dakota pays this job around $36,730 at the midpoint, 29 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 457 occupations South Dakota publishes, this job lands at 406. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $36,730 you keep $31,693 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,975 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $37,630, since top earners drag the number up.
- For cooks, institution and cafeteria the South Dakota median is $36,730, ranking 29 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.
- Within South Dakota, this work ranks 406 of 457 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $31,693 after the full tax stack, from $36,730. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,975 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $37,630 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,650 |
| This salary | $36,730 |
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 | $31,693 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,693 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,362 |
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 | $36,730 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,065 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,730 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,140 and the ninetieth is $45,650 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $31,693 take-home in South Dakota comes from $36,730. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 406 of 457.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,975 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 406.
- The South Dakota median of $36,730 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,140 to $45,650. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $31,693, from $36,730, assumes a single South Dakota filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 406 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,975, worked from $36,730, 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 406 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $30,140 at the bottom tenth to $45,650 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 $35,975 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $31,693 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?
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 ($30,140 to $45,650) 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 $35,975 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 $31,693 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.