Highway Maintenance Workers in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,238
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$7,372
15.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,811
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
$48,610
Kept after tax
$41,238
Worth in national money
$46,811
State rank
29
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. South Dakota is 29 of 49 states for highway maintenance workers, with a middle wage of $48,610. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Highway maintenance workers ranks 273 among 457 occupations South Dakota publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $48,610 you keep $41,238 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $46,811 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $50,470, since top earners drag the number up.
- South Dakota ranks 29 of 49 for highway maintenance workers at $48,610. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 273 of 457 in South Dakota places highway maintenance workers 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 $41,238 after the full tax stack, from $48,610. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $46,811 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $50,470 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Highway Maintenance Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,610 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,490 |
| This salary | $48,610 |
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 | $41,238 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,238 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,374 |
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 | $48,610 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,290 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $48,610 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,030 and the ninetieth is $61,490 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $41,238, from $48,610, 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 273 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 $46,811, the adjusted value of that $48,610 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 273 of 457 in the state.
- The South Dakota median of $48,610 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,030 to $61,490. 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 $41,238 from $48,610. 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 273 of 457 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $46,811 — the adjusted value of that $48,610 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 273 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $50,470, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $39,030 and the top tenth $61,490, 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 $46,811 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $41,238 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 49 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 $50,470. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($39,030 to $61,490) 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 $46,811 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 $41,238 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.