Dental Assistants in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,668
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$7,232
15.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,163
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
$47,900
Kept after tax
$40,668
Worth in national money
$46,163
State rank
26
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota sits in the middle of the pack for dental assistants. The median is $47,900, ranking 26 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in South Dakota, this sits in the middle: 288 of 457 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $47,900 you keep $40,668, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $46,163 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $50,170, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Dakota occupies the middle band for dental assistants: a median of $47,900, ranking 26 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Dental assistants ranks 288 of 457 occupations in South Dakota by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for dental assistants on $47,900 is $40,668. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $46,163 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 $50,170 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Dental Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,310 |
| This salary | $47,900 |
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 | $40,668 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,668 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,313 |
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 | $47,900 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,217 |
| 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 $47,900. The published range is $38,190 up to $60,310, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $40,668, from $47,900, 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 288 of 457 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of South Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $46,163, the adjusted value of that $47,900 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 288 of 457 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for dental assistants in South Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,190 to $60,310. 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 $40,668 from $47,900. 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 288 of 457 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $46,163 — the adjusted value of that $47,900 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 288 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $50,170, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,190 at the tenth percentile, $60,310 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 $46,163.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $40,668 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?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $50,170. 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 ($38,190 to $60,310) 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 $46,163 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 $40,668 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.