Data Scientists in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$76,472
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$19,678
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$86,806
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
$96,150
Kept after tax
$76,472
Worth in national money
$86,806
State rank
36
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is among the lower-paying states for data scientists. The middle earner takes $96,150, ranking 36 of 49 states — about 20.03% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Within South Dakota this is well-paid work. Of 457 occupations with published figures in the state, data scientists ranks 49 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $96,150 you keep $76,472 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $86,806 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $102,450, since top earners drag the number up.
- South Dakota ranks 36 of 49 for data scientists, with a median of $96,150 — about 20.03% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation South Dakota publishes a median for, data scientists sits 49 of 457 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $76,472 after the full tax stack, from $96,150. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $86,806 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $102,450 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Data Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $67,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $96,150 |
| Top tenth earn over | $145,510 |
| This salary | $96,150 |
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 | $76,472 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $76,472 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$8,111 |
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 | $96,150 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$11,204 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $96,150 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $67,510 and the ninetieth is $145,510 — 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 $76,472, worked from $96,150. 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 49 of 457.
- Two cautions on $86,806, the adjusted value of that $96,150 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 49 of 457 locally.
- The South Dakota median of $96,150 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $67,510 to $145,510. 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 $76,472, on $96,150 for work ranking 49 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 49 of 457 in the state.
- This $86,806 adjusted figure, worked from $96,150, 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 49 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 49 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 $102,450, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $67,510 and the top tenth $145,510 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $86,806.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $76,472 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.
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 $102,450. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($67,510) and the ninetieth ($145,510) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $86,806 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 $76,472 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.