Crossing Guards and Flaggers in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,896
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$7,044
15.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,288
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
$46,940
Kept after tax
$39,896
Worth in national money
$45,288
State rank
7
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for crossing guards and flaggers is strong here. South Dakota's middle earner gets $46,940, putting the state 7 of 49 — about 23.2% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 457 occupations South Dakota reports figures for, this is number 302.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $46,940 you keep $39,896, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $45,288 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $42,400, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For crossing guards and flaggers, South Dakota sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $46,940, ranking 7 of 49 and running about 23.2% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In South Dakota's occupational distribution, crossing guards and flaggers sits at 302 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 crossing guards and flaggers on $46,940 is $39,896. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $45,288 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 $42,400 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Crossing Guards and Flaggers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,680 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,940 |
| Top tenth earn over | $53,280 |
| This salary | $46,940 |
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 | $39,896 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,896 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,232 |
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 | $46,940 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,118 |
| 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 crossing guards and flaggers in South Dakota earn under $46,940 and half over. The published range runs $29,680 at the tenth percentile to $53,280 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $39,896 take-home in South Dakota comes from $46,940. 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 302 of 457.
- Two cautions on $45,288, the adjusted value of that $46,940 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 302 of 457 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for crossing guards and flaggers in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,680 to $53,280; 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.
- Retained pay of $39,896, from $46,940, 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 302 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 7 of 49 for it.
- This $45,288 adjusted figure, worked from $46,940, 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 302 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 302 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 $42,400, 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 $29,680 at the bottom tenth to $53,280 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 $45,288 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $39,896 survives, because South Dakota levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $42,400. 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 ($29,680 to $53,280) 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 $45,288 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 $39,896 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.