Mechanical Engineers in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$71,005
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$17,375
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$80,601
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
$88,380
Kept after tax
$71,005
Worth in national money
$80,601
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is among the lower-paying states for mechanical engineers. The middle earner takes $88,380, ranking 47 of 51 states — about 15.11% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 457 occupations South Dakota reports, mechanical engineers comes in at 60 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $88,380 you keep $71,005 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $80,601 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $95,080, since top earners drag the number up.
- South Dakota ranks 47 of 51 for mechanical engineers, with a median of $88,380 — about 15.11% 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.
- Mechanical engineers ranks 60 of 457 occupations by median in South Dakota, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $71,005 after the full tax stack, from $88,380. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $80,601 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $95,080 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $65,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $88,380 |
| Top tenth earn over | $134,140 |
| This salary | $88,380 |
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 | $71,005 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $71,005 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$7,531 |
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 | $88,380 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$10,403 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $88,380 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $65,130 and the ninetieth is $134,140 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $71,005 take-home in South Dakota comes from $88,380. 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 60 of 457.
- One number stands for prices across all of South Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $80,601, the adjusted value of that $88,380 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 60 of 457 in the state.
- The South Dakota median of $88,380 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $65,130 to $134,140. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $71,005, from $88,380, 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 60 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 47 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $80,601 — the adjusted value of that $88,380 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 60 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $95,080 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $65,130 at the bottom tenth to $134,140 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. South Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $80,601 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $71,005 of this wage reaches your account, because South Dakota takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $95,080. 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 ($65,130) and the ninetieth ($134,140) 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 $80,601 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 $71,005 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.