Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,562
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$20,138
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$88,044
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
$97,700
Kept after tax
$77,562
Worth in national money
$88,044
State rank
44
of 48 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 $97,700. That is 44 of 48 states, and about 10.59% 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 45 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $97,700 you keep $77,562, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $88,044 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $103,500, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For engineering teachers, postsecondary, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $97,700, ranking 44 of 48 and trailing the national median by about 10.59%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Engineering teachers, postsecondary ranks 45 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.
- After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for engineering teachers, postsecondary on $97,700 is $77,562. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $88,044 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 $103,500 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $82,440 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,700 |
| Top tenth earn over | $126,190 |
| This salary | $97,700 |
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 | $77,562 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,562 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$8,227 |
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 | $97,700 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$11,364 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $97,700 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $82,440 and the ninetieth is $126,190 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $77,562 take-home in South Dakota comes from $97,700. 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 45 of 457.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $88,044 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 45.
- The South Dakota median of $97,700 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $82,440 to $126,190. 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 $77,562, from $97,700, 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 45 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 44 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $88,044, worked from $97,700, 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 45 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 $103,500, 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 $82,440 and the top tenth $126,190, 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 $88,044 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $77,562 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 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 $103,500. 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 ($82,440 to $126,190) 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 $88,044 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 $77,562 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.