Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,243
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$8,107
15.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,222
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
$52,350
Kept after tax
$44,243
Worth in national money
$50,222
State rank
26
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. South Dakota is 26 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $52,350. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in South Dakota, this sits in the middle: 229 of 457 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- South Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $52,350 the take-home is $44,243; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $50,222 would nationally. The average lands at $50,760, below the middle of the range.
- South Dakota ranks 26 of 50 for eligibility interviewers, government programs at $52,350. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Eligibility interviewers, government programs ranks 229 of 457 occupations in South Dakota by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for eligibility interviewers, government programs in South Dakota, on $52,350, is $44,243 — equivalent to $50,222 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 $50,760 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,540 |
| This salary | $52,350 |
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 | $44,243 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,243 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,693 |
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 | $52,350 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,675 |
| 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 eligibility interviewers, government programs in South Dakota earn under $52,350 and half over. The published range runs $33,210 at the tenth percentile to $62,540 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $44,243 take-home in South Dakota comes from $52,350. 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 229 of 457.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $50,222 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 229.
- Figures are distribution medians for eligibility interviewers, government programs in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,210 to $62,540; 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.
- Retained pay of $44,243, from $52,350, 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 229 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 26 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $50,222, worked from $52,350, 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 229 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $50,760, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $33,210 and the top tenth $62,540, so most people doing this work in South Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in South Dakota sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $50,222 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $44,243 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?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $50,760. 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 ($33,210 to $62,540) 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 $50,222 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 $44,243 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.