Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,876
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$4,104
12.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,643
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
$31,980
Kept after tax
$27,876
Worth in national money
$31,643
State rank
32
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota sits in the middle of the pack for food servers, nonrestaurant. The median is $31,980, ranking 32 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Within South Dakota this is lower-paid work. Of 457 occupations the state publishes figures for, food servers, nonrestaurant ranks 433. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $31,980 you keep $27,876, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $31,643 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $32,870, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Dakota occupies the middle band for food servers, nonrestaurant: a median of $31,980, ranking 32 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Against every occupation South Dakota reports, food servers, nonrestaurant ranks 433 of 457, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for food servers, nonrestaurant on $31,980 is $27,876. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $31,643 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 $32,870 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,810 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $31,980 |
| Top tenth earn over | $43,070 |
| This salary | $31,980 |
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 | $27,876 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $27,876 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,957 |
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 | $31,980 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,576 |
| 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 food servers, nonrestaurant in South Dakota earn under $31,980 and half over. The published range runs $26,810 at the tenth percentile to $43,070 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $27,876 take-home in South Dakota comes from $31,980. 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 433 of 457.
- Two cautions on $31,643, the adjusted value of that $31,980 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 433 of 457 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for food servers, nonrestaurant in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $26,810 to $43,070; 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.
- Retained pay of $27,876, from $31,980, 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 433 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 32 of 51 for it.
- This $31,643 adjusted figure, worked from $31,980, 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 433 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 433 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $26,810 at the bottom tenth to $43,070 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 $31,643 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $27,876 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.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($26,810 to $43,070) 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 $31,643 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 $27,876 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.