Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,534
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$3,776
12.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,120
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
$30,310
Kept after tax
$26,534
Worth in national money
$30,120
State rank
21
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 $30,310, ranking 21 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in South Dakota, this one sits low: 441 of 457 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $30,310 you keep $26,534 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $30,120 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $31,000, since top earners drag the number up.
- South Dakota occupies the middle band for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop: a median of $30,310, ranking 21 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.
- Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop occupies position 441 of 457 in South Dakota's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $26,534 after the full tax stack, from $30,310. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $30,120 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $31,000 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $25,380 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $36,800 |
| This salary | $30,310 |
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 | $26,534 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,534 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,814 |
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 | $30,310 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,404 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $30,310 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $25,380 and the ninetieth is $36,800 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $26,534 take-home in South Dakota comes from $30,310. 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 441 of 457.
- Two cautions on $30,120, the adjusted value of that $30,310 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 441 of 457 locally.
- The South Dakota median of $30,310 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $25,380 to $36,800. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $26,534, from $30,310, 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 441 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 51 for it.
- This $30,120 adjusted figure, worked from $30,310, 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 441 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 441 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $25,380 at the tenth percentile, $36,800 at the ninetieth.
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 $30,120.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $26,534 survives, because South Dakota levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($25,380 to $36,800) 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 $30,120 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 $26,534 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.