Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,949
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$7,301
15.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,483
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
$48,250
Kept after tax
$40,949
Worth in national money
$46,483
State rank
44
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $48,250, ranking 44 of 49 states — about 15.98% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 281 among 457 occupations South Dakota publishes pay for.
- South Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $48,250 the take-home is $40,949; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $46,483 would nationally. The average comes to $50,850, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- South Dakota ranks 44 of 49 for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining, with a median of $48,250 — about 15.98% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Position 281 of 457 in South Dakota places excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining 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.
- Post-tax income for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining in South Dakota, on $48,250, is $40,949 — equivalent to $46,483 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 $50,850 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,980 |
| This salary | $48,250 |
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 | $40,949 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,949 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,343 |
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 | $48,250 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,253 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in South Dakota earn less than $48,250. The published range is $41,600 up to $61,980, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $40,949 take-home in South Dakota comes from $48,250. 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 281 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 $46,483, the adjusted value of that $48,250 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 281 of 457 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for excavating and loading machine and dragline operators, surface mining in South Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $41,600 to $61,980. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $40,949, from $48,250, 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 281 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 44 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $46,483 — the adjusted value of that $48,250 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 281 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 $50,850, 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 $41,600 and the top tenth $61,980, 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 $46,483 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $40,949 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?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $50,850. 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 ($41,600 to $61,980) 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 $46,483 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 $40,949 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.