Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,337
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$9,353
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,005
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
$58,690
Kept after tax
$49,337
Worth in national money
$56,005
State rank
27
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $58,690, ranking 27 of 51 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 192 among 457 occupations South Dakota publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $58,690 you keep $49,337 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $56,005 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $58,550.
- South Dakota occupies the middle band for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers: a median of $58,690, ranking 27 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.
- Position 192 of 457 in South Dakota places heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers 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.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $49,337 after the full tax stack, from $58,690. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $56,005 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $58,550 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,690 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,610 |
| This salary | $58,690 |
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 | $49,337 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,337 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,233 |
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 | $58,690 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,329 |
| 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 $58,690. The published range is $41,590 up to $78,610, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $49,337 take-home in South Dakota comes from $58,690. 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 192 of 457.
- Two cautions on $56,005, the adjusted value of that $58,690 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 192 of 457 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in South Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $41,590 to $78,610. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $49,337, from $58,690, 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 192 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 51 for it.
- This $56,005 adjusted figure, worked from $58,690, 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 192 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 192 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $41,590 at the bottom tenth to $78,610 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $56,005.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $49,337 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 ($41,590 to $78,610) 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 $56,005 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 $49,337 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.