Labor Relations Specialists in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,703
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$9,197
15.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,284
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
$57,900
Kept after tax
$48,703
Worth in national money
$55,284
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is among the lower-paying states for labor relations specialists. The middle earner takes $57,900, ranking 50 of 51 states — about 39.32% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in South Dakota, this sits in the middle: 200 of 457 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- South Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $57,900 the take-home is $48,703; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $55,284 would nationally. The average comes to $83,770, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- South Dakota ranks 50 of 51 for labor relations specialists, with a median of $57,900 — about 39.32% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Labor relations specialists ranks 200 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.
- Post-tax income for labor relations specialists in South Dakota, on $57,900, is $48,703 — equivalent to $55,284 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 $83,770 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Labor Relations Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $158,800 |
| This salary | $57,900 |
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 | $48,703 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,703 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,166 |
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 | $57,900 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,247 |
| 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 $57,900. The published range is $49,270 up to $158,800, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $48,703, from $57,900, 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 200 of 457 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $55,284, the adjusted value of that $57,900 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 200 of 457 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for labor relations specialists in South Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $49,270 to $158,800. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for South Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $48,703 from $57,900. 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 200 of 457 locally.
- This $55,284 adjusted figure, worked from $57,900, 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 200 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 200 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $83,770, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $49,270, the highest tenth $158,800, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $55,284.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $48,703 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?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $83,770. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($49,270) and the ninetieth ($158,800) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $55,284 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 $48,703 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.