Helpers--Carpenters in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,061
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$4,639
13.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,124
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
$34,700
Kept after tax
$30,061
Worth in national money
$34,124
State rank
44
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for helpers--carpenters is on the low side in South Dakota. The middle earner gets $34,700. That is 44 of 47 states, and about 20.74% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 457 occupations South Dakota publishes, helpers--carpenters lands at 423. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- South Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $34,700 the take-home is $30,061; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $34,124 would nationally. The average comes to $35,600, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For helpers--carpenters, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $34,700, ranking 44 of 47 and trailing the national median by about 20.74%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within South Dakota, this work ranks 423 of 457 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for helpers--carpenters in South Dakota, on $34,700, is $30,061 — equivalent to $34,124 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $35,600 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Helpers--Carpenters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,420 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,700 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,370 |
| This salary | $34,700 |
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 | $30,061 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,061 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,189 |
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 | $34,700 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,856 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $34,700 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $27,420 and the ninetieth is $46,370 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Dakota's $30,061, worked from $34,700. 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 423 of 457.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,124 uses one figure for the whole of South Dakota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 457 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 423.
- The South Dakota median of $34,700 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $27,420 to $46,370. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The South Dakota take-home of $30,061, on $34,700 for work ranking 423 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 423 of 457 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,124, worked from $34,700, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular South Dakota address, on work sitting at 423 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $27,420 and the top tenth $46,370, so most people doing this work in South Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $34,124 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $30,061 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.
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 47 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 ($27,420 to $46,370) 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 $34,124 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 $30,061 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.