Food Preparation Workers in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,631
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$3,800
12.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,229
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
$30,430
Kept after tax
$26,631
Worth in national money
$30,229
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for food preparation workers is on the low side in South Dakota. The middle earner gets $30,430. That is 39 of 51 states, and about 13.84% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 457 occupations South Dakota publishes, food preparation workers lands at 439. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- South Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $30,430 the take-home is $26,631; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $30,229 would nationally. The average comes to $31,630, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For food preparation workers, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $30,430, ranking 39 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 13.84%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within South Dakota, this work ranks 439 of 457 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for food preparation workers in South Dakota, on $30,430, is $26,631 — equivalent to $30,229 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 $31,630 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Food Preparation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $38,580 |
| This salary | $30,430 |
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 | $26,631 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,631 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,825 |
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 | $30,430 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,416 |
| 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 $30,430. The published range is $26,510 up to $38,580, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $26,631 take-home in South Dakota comes from $30,430. 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 439 of 457.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,229 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 439.
- Reported values are medians; for food preparation workers in South Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $26,510 to $38,580. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $26,631, from $30,430, 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 439 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,229, worked from $30,430, 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 439 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $31,630, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $26,510 at the tenth percentile, $38,580 at the ninetieth.
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 $30,229 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $26,631 survives, because South Dakota levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $31,630. 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 ($26,510 to $38,580) 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 $30,229 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 $26,631 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.