Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$71,012
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$17,378
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$80,609
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
$88,390
Kept after tax
$71,012
Worth in national money
$80,609
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in South Dakota. The middle earner gets $88,390. That is 45 of 51 states, and about 16.51% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 457 occupations South Dakota reports, this job comes in at 59 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- South Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $88,390 the take-home is $71,012; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $80,609 would nationally. The average comes to $91,960, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For education administrators, kindergarten through secondary, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $88,390, ranking 45 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 16.51%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary ranks 59 of 457 occupations by median in South Dakota, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for education administrators, kindergarten through secondary in South Dakota, on $88,390, is $71,012 — equivalent to $80,609 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $91,960 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $74,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $88,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $109,270 |
| This salary | $88,390 |
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 | $71,012 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $71,012 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$7,532 |
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 | $88,390 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$10,404 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $88,390 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $74,770 and the ninetieth is $109,270 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $71,012, from $88,390, 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 59 of 457 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $80,609 uses one figure for the whole of South Dakota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 457 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 59.
- The South Dakota median of $88,390 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $74,770 to $109,270. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for South Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $71,012 from $88,390. 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 59 of 457 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $80,609, worked from $88,390, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular South Dakota address, on work sitting at 59 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 $91,960, 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 — $74,770 at the tenth percentile, $109,270 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 $80,609.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $71,012 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?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $91,960. 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 ($74,770 to $109,270) 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 $80,609 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 $71,012 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.