Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,459
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$7,671
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,197
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
$50,130
Kept after tax
$42,459
Worth in national money
$48,197
State rank
49
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 $50,130. That is 49 of 51 states, and about 21.64% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 252 among 457 occupations South Dakota publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $50,130 you keep $42,459 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $48,197 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $52,680, since top earners drag the number up.
- For elementary school teachers, except special education, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $50,130, ranking 49 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 21.64%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 252 of 457 in South Dakota places elementary school teachers, except special education in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $42,459 after the full tax stack, from $50,130. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $48,197 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $52,680 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,130 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,180 |
| This salary | $50,130 |
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 | $42,459 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,459 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,504 |
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 | $50,130 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,447 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $50,130 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $47,120 and the ninetieth is $60,180 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $42,459 take-home in South Dakota comes from $50,130. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 252 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 $48,197, the adjusted value of that $50,130 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 252 of 457 in the state.
- The South Dakota median of $50,130 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $47,120 to $60,180. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $42,459, from $50,130, assumes a single South Dakota filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 252 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 49 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $48,197 — the adjusted value of that $50,130 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 252 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 $52,680 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 $47,120 at the bottom tenth to $60,180 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 $48,197 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $42,459 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
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 $52,680. 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 ($47,120 to $60,180) 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 $48,197 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 $42,459 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.