Dishwashers in South Dakota

Fresh vegetables and a plated meal at a professional kitchen prep station.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$24,824

after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax

Tax takes

$3,366

11.9% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$28,179

South Dakota costs less than average

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

$28,190

Kept after tax

$24,824

Worth in national money

$28,179

State rank

45

of 51 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • South Dakota is among the lower-paying states for dishwashers. The middle earner takes $28,190, ranking 45 of 51 states — about 19.02% 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: 454 of 457 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
  • Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $28,190 you keep $24,824 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $28,179 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $29,220, since top earners drag the number up.
  • South Dakota ranks 45 of 51 for dishwashers, with a median of $28,190 — about 19.02% 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.
  • Dishwashers occupies position 454 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 $24,824 after the full tax stack, from $28,190. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $28,179 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $29,220 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.

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Pay band: Dishwashers

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$24,230
Half earn under$28,190
Top tenth earn over$36,750
This salary$28,190

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

Compare with
$0take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in South Dakota$24,824
Take-home in Texas$24,824
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$2,633

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

Moving to
$0$31,367
$31,367in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$28,190
Raise you would need+$3,177
Prices in Texas97 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 dishwashers in South Dakota earn under $28,190 and half over. The published range runs $24,230 at the tenth percentile to $36,750 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
  • In South Dakota the take-home figure of $24,824, from $28,190, 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 454 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 $28,179, the adjusted value of that $28,190 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 454 of 457 in the state.
  • Figures are distribution medians for dishwashers in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $24,230 to $36,750; 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.
  • Take-home for South Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $24,824 from $28,190. 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 454 of 457 locally.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $28,179 — the adjusted value of that $28,190 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 454 of 457 locally.

Questions people ask

Is this the average pay for the job?

Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $29,220 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

The range here is narrow. From $24,230 at the bottom tenth to $36,750 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.

What does this pay actually buy where I live?

Further than the number implies. South Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $28,179 in national terms.

Is most of this wage taxed away?

Less than people assume. $24,824 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.

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 $29,220. 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 ($24,230 to $36,750) 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 $28,179 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 $24,824 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.