Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,509
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$8,661
15.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,794
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
$55,170
Kept after tax
$46,509
Worth in national money
$52,794
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $55,170, ranking 48 of 51 states — about 27.97% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 213 among 457 occupations South Dakota publishes pay for.
- South Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $55,170 the take-home is $46,509; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $52,794 would nationally. The average comes to $56,200, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- South Dakota ranks 48 of 51 for executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants, with a median of $55,170 — about 27.97% 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 213 of 457 in South Dakota places executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants 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 executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants in South Dakota, on $55,170, is $46,509 — equivalent to $52,794 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 $56,200 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,930 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $55,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $70,110 |
| This salary | $55,170 |
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 | $46,509 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,509 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,933 |
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 | $55,170 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,966 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $55,170 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $42,930 and the ninetieth is $70,110 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $46,509 take-home in South Dakota comes from $55,170. 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 213 of 457.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $52,794 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 213.
- The South Dakota median of $55,170 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $42,930 to $70,110. 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 $46,509, from $55,170, 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 213 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 48 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $52,794, worked from $55,170, 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 213 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $42,930 at the tenth percentile, $70,110 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $52,794.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $46,509 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?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($42,930 to $70,110) 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 $52,794 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 $46,509 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.