Light Truck Drivers in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,923
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$6,317
14.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,913
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
$43,240
Kept after tax
$36,923
Worth in national money
$41,913
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for light truck drivers is on the low side in South Dakota. The middle earner gets $43,240. That is 35 of 51 states, and about 3.61% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 457 occupations South Dakota publishes, light truck drivers lands at 355. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $43,240 you keep $36,923, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $41,913 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $44,100, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For light truck drivers, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $43,240, ranking 35 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 3.61%. 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 355 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.
- After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for light truck drivers on $43,240 is $36,923. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $41,913 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $44,100 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Light Truck Drivers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,400 |
| This salary | $43,240 |
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 | $36,923 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,923 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,916 |
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 | $43,240 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,736 |
| 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 $43,240. The published range is $27,520 up to $59,400, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $36,923, from $43,240, 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 355 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 $41,913 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 355.
- Reported values are medians; for light truck drivers in South Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $27,520 to $59,400. 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 $36,923 from $43,240. 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 355 of 457 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,913, worked from $43,240, 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 355 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $27,520, the highest tenth $59,400, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $41,913 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $36,923 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($27,520) and the ninetieth ($59,400) 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 $41,913 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 $36,923 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.