Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,376
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$5,204
13.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,751
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
$37,580
Kept after tax
$32,376
Worth in national money
$36,751
State rank
36
of 50 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 $37,580. That is 36 of 50 states, and about 4.33% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 457 occupations South Dakota publishes, this job lands at 400. 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 $37,580 you keep $32,376, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $36,751 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $38,250, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $37,580, ranking 36 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 4.33%. 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 400 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 mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service on $37,580 is $32,376. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $36,751 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 $38,250 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,530 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,820 |
| This salary | $37,580 |
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 | $32,376 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,376 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,434 |
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 | $37,580 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,153 |
| 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 mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service in South Dakota earn under $37,580 and half over. The published range runs $30,530 at the tenth percentile to $47,820 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $32,376 take-home in South Dakota comes from $37,580. 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 400 of 457.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $36,751 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 400.
- Figures are distribution medians for mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,530 to $47,820; 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.
- Retained pay of $32,376, from $37,580, 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 400 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 36 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $36,751, worked from $37,580, 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 400 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,530 at the tenth percentile, $47,820 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 $36,751.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $32,376 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. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($30,530 to $47,820) 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 $36,751 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 $32,376 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.