First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,777
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$12,643
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,856
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
$72,420
Kept after tax
$59,777
Worth in national money
$67,856
State rank
41
of 50 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 $72,420. That is 41 of 50 states, and about 22.57% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 117 among 457 occupations South Dakota publishes pay for.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $72,420 you keep $59,777, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $67,856 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $81,140, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $72,420, ranking 41 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 22.57%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 117 of 457 in South Dakota places first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers 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.
- After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers on $72,420 is $59,777. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $67,856 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 $81,140 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $67,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $72,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $115,210 |
| This salary | $72,420 |
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 | $59,777 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $59,777 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,340 |
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 | $72,420 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$8,758 |
| 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 first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers in South Dakota earn under $72,420 and half over. The published range runs $67,200 at the tenth percentile to $115,210 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $59,777, from $72,420, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 117 of 457 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $67,856, the adjusted value of that $72,420 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of South Dakota. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 117 of 457 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $67,200 to $115,210; 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.
- Take-home for South Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $59,777 from $72,420. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 117 of 457 locally.
- This $67,856 adjusted figure, worked from $72,420, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 117 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 117 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 $81,140, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $67,200 at the bottom tenth to $115,210 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 $67,856 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $59,777 survives, because South Dakota levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
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 $81,140. 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 ($67,200 to $115,210) 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 $67,856 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 $59,777 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.