Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,870
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$15,210
18.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,771
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
$81,080
Kept after tax
$65,870
Worth in national money
$74,771
State rank
12
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. South Dakota pays this job a middle wage of $81,080, ranking 12 of 45 states and sitting about 2.18% above the national middle.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 457 occupations South Dakota reports, this job comes in at 76 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $81,080 you keep $65,870 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $74,771 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $79,090.
- South Dakota's median for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary is $81,080, about 2.18% above the national figure and 12 of 45 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary ranks 76 of 457 occupations by median in South Dakota, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $65,870 after the full tax stack, from $81,080. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $74,771 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $79,090 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $81,080 |
| Top tenth earn over | $103,830 |
| This salary | $81,080 |
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 | $65,870 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,870 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,987 |
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 | $81,080 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$9,651 |
| 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 foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary in South Dakota earn under $81,080 and half over. The published range runs $60,430 at the tenth percentile to $103,830 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $65,870 take-home in South Dakota comes from $81,080. 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 76 of 457.
- Two cautions on $74,771, the adjusted value of that $81,080 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 76 of 457 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $60,430 to $103,830; 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 $65,870, from $81,080, 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 76 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 12 of 45 for it.
- This $74,771 adjusted figure, worked from $81,080, 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 76 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 76 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $60,430 and the top tenth $103,830, so most people doing this work in South Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $74,771.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $65,870 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?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($60,430 to $103,830) 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 $74,771 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 $65,870 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.