Dietitians and Nutritionists in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$54,319
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$10,571
16.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$61,660
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
$64,890
Kept after tax
$54,319
Worth in national money
$61,660
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for dietitians and nutritionists is on the low side in South Dakota. The middle earner gets $64,890. That is 47 of 51 states, and about 15.07% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 457 occupations South Dakota reports figures for, this is number 147.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $64,890 you keep $54,319, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $61,660 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $68,220, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For dietitians and nutritionists, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $64,890, ranking 47 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 15.07%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In South Dakota's occupational distribution, dietitians and nutritionists sits at 147 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 dietitians and nutritionists on $64,890 is $54,319. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $61,660 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 $68,220 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Dietitians and Nutritionists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,260 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $88,710 |
| This salary | $64,890 |
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 | $54,319 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,319 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,761 |
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 | $64,890 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$7,729 |
| 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 dietitians and nutritionists in South Dakota earn under $64,890 and half over. The published range runs $50,260 at the tenth percentile to $88,710 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Dakota's $54,319, worked from $64,890. 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 147 of 457.
- One number stands for prices across all of South Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $61,660, the adjusted value of that $64,890 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 147 of 457 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for dietitians and nutritionists in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $50,260 to $88,710; 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.
- The South Dakota take-home of $54,319, on $64,890 for work ranking 147 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 147 of 457 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $61,660 — the adjusted value of that $64,890 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 147 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 $68,220, 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 — $50,260 at the tenth percentile, $88,710 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 $61,660.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $54,319 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.
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 $68,220. 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 ($50,260 to $88,710) 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 $61,660 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 $54,319 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.