Electrical Engineers in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$78,462
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$20,518
20.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$89,066
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
$98,980
Kept after tax
$78,462
Worth in national money
$89,066
State rank
45
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Dakota pays electrical engineers a middle wage of $98,980, 45 of 49 states and about 17.95% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in South Dakota. It ranks 41 out of 457 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $98,980 you keep $78,462, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $89,066 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $102,770, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Dakota's $98,980 median for electrical engineers places it 45 of 49 states, about 17.95% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Within South Dakota, electrical engineers ranks 41 of 457 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for electrical engineers on $98,980 is $78,462. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $89,066 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 $102,770 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Electrical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $69,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $98,980 |
| Top tenth earn over | $138,210 |
| This salary | $98,980 |
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 | $78,462 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,462 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$8,322 |
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 | $98,980 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$11,496 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $98,980 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $69,580 and the ninetieth is $138,210 — 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 $78,462, worked from $98,980. 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 41 of 457.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $89,066 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 41.
- The South Dakota median of $98,980 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $69,580 to $138,210. 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 $78,462, on $98,980 for work ranking 41 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 41 of 457 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $89,066, worked from $98,980, 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 41 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 $102,770, 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?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $69,580 and the top tenth $138,210, so most people doing this work in South Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $89,066 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $78,462 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?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 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 $102,770. 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 ($69,580 to $138,210) 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 $89,066 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 $78,462 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.