Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,884
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$12,266
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,842
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
$71,150
Kept after tax
$58,884
Worth in national money
$66,842
State rank
47
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 $71,150. That is 47 of 50 states, and about 30.19% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in South Dakota, this sits in the middle: 121 of 457 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $71,150 you keep $58,884 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $66,842 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $72,030, since top earners drag the number up.
- For geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $71,150, ranking 47 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 30.19%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers ranks 121 of 457 occupations in South Dakota by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $58,884 after the full tax stack, from $71,150. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $66,842 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $72,030 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Geoscientists, Except Hydrologists and Geographers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,290 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $71,150 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,560 |
| This salary | $71,150 |
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 | $58,884 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $58,884 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,246 |
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 | $71,150 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$8,627 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $71,150 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $61,290 and the ninetieth is $78,560 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $58,884, from $71,150, 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 121 of 457 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of South Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $66,842, the adjusted value of that $71,150 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 121 of 457 in the state.
- The South Dakota median of $71,150 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $61,290 to $78,560. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for South Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $58,884 from $71,150. 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 121 of 457 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $66,842 — the adjusted value of that $71,150 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 121 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $61,290 and the top tenth $78,560, so most people doing this work in South Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $66,842 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $58,884 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?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($61,290 to $78,560) 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 $66,842 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 $58,884 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.