Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,767
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$6,523
14.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,871
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
$44,290
Kept after tax
$37,767
Worth in national money
$42,871
State rank
8
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $44,290, which ranks 8 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 15.64% above the national middle.
- Against other work in South Dakota, this sits in the middle: 342 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 $44,290 the take-home is $37,767; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $42,871 would nationally. The average lands at $44,140, below the middle of the range.
- South Dakota ranks 8 of 50 states publishing a median for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers, at $44,290 — about 15.64% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers ranks 342 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 meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers in South Dakota, on $44,290, is $37,767 — equivalent to $42,871 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 $44,140 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,730 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,150 |
| This salary | $44,290 |
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 | $37,767 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,767 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,006 |
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 | $44,290 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,845 |
| 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 meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers in South Dakota earn under $44,290 and half over. The published range runs $35,730 at the tenth percentile to $48,150 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $37,767, from $44,290, 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 342 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 $42,871 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 342.
- Figures are distribution medians for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,730 to $48,150; 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 $37,767 from $44,290. 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 342 of 457 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $42,871, worked from $44,290, 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 342 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $35,730 at the bottom tenth to $48,150 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $42,871 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $37,767 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?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,730 to $48,150) 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 $42,871 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 $37,767 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.