Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,996
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$6,824
14.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,266
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
$45,820
Kept after tax
$38,996
Worth in national money
$44,266
State rank
41
of 48 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 $45,820. That is 41 of 48 states, and about 6.72% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in South Dakota, this sits in the middle: 316 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 $45,820 you keep $38,996 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $44,266 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $48,090, since top earners drag the number up.
- For insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $45,820, ranking 41 of 48 and trailing the national median by about 6.72%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall ranks 316 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 $38,996 after the full tax stack, from $45,820. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $44,266 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $48,090 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,820 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,320 |
| This salary | $45,820 |
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 | $38,996 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,996 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,136 |
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 | $45,820 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,002 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall in South Dakota earn under $45,820 and half over. The published range runs $35,890 at the tenth percentile to $60,320 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $38,996, from $45,820, 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 316 of 457 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $44,266 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 316.
- Figures are distribution medians for insulation workers, floor, ceiling, and wall in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,890 to $60,320; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for South Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,996 from $45,820. 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 316 of 457 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $44,266, worked from $45,820, 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 316 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 $48,090, 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 $35,890 and the top tenth $60,320, so most people doing this work in South Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $44,266.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $38,996 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $48,090. 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 ($35,890 to $60,320) 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 $44,266 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 $38,996 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.