Cooks, Restaurant in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,283
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$4,937
13.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,510
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
$36,220
Kept after tax
$31,283
Worth in national money
$35,510
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is among the lower-paying states for cooks, restaurant. The middle earner takes $36,220, ranking 35 of 51 states — about 3.13% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in South Dakota, this one sits low: 412 of 457 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $36,220 you keep $31,283 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,510 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $36,720, since top earners drag the number up.
- South Dakota ranks 35 of 51 for cooks, restaurant, with a median of $36,220 — about 3.13% 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.
- Cooks, restaurant occupies position 412 of 457 in South Dakota's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $31,283 after the full tax stack, from $36,220. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,510 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $36,720 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Cooks, Restaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,990 |
| This salary | $36,220 |
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 | $31,283 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,283 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,318 |
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 | $36,220 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,013 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,220 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,140 and the ninetieth is $44,990 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Dakota's $31,283, worked from $36,220. 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 412 of 457.
- Two cautions on $35,510, the adjusted value of that $36,220 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 412 of 457 locally.
- The South Dakota median of $36,220 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,140 to $44,990. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The South Dakota take-home of $31,283, on $36,220 for work ranking 412 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 412 of 457 in the state.
- This $35,510 adjusted figure, worked from $36,220, 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 412 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 412 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,140 at the tenth percentile, $44,990 at the ninetieth.
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 $35,510 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $31,283 of this wage reaches your account, because South Dakota takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,140 to $44,990) 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 $35,510 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 $31,283 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.