Forest and Conservation Technicians in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,188
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$8,582
15.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,429
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
$54,770
Kept after tax
$46,188
Worth in national money
$52,429
State rank
16
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $54,770, ranking 16 of 45 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 215 among 457 occupations South Dakota publishes pay for.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $54,770 you keep $46,188, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $52,429 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $60,160, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Dakota occupies the middle band for forest and conservation technicians: a median of $54,770, ranking 16 of 45. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 215 of 457 in South Dakota places forest and conservation technicians 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 forest and conservation technicians on $54,770 is $46,188. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $52,429 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 $60,160 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Forest and Conservation Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,530 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $54,770 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,990 |
| This salary | $54,770 |
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 | $46,188 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,188 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,899 |
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 | $54,770 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,925 |
| 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 $54,770. The published range is $43,530 up to $82,990, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Dakota's $46,188, worked from $54,770. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 215 of 457.
- One number stands for prices across all of South Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $52,429, the adjusted value of that $54,770 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 215 of 457 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for forest and conservation technicians in South Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $43,530 to $82,990. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The South Dakota take-home of $46,188, on $54,770 for work ranking 215 of 457 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 215 of 457 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $52,429 — the adjusted value of that $54,770 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 215 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 $60,160, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $43,530 and the top tenth $82,990 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in South Dakota sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $52,429 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $46,188 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
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.
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 $60,160. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($43,530) and the ninetieth ($82,990) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $52,429 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 $46,188 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.