Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,400
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$8,390
15.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,536
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
$53,790
Kept after tax
$45,400
Worth in national money
$51,536
State rank
9
of 51 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 $53,790, which ranks 9 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 44.67% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 217 among 457 occupations South Dakota publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $53,790 you keep $45,400 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $51,536 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $48,800.
- South Dakota ranks 9 of 51 states publishing a median for motor vehicle operators, all other, at $53,790 — about 44.67% 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.
- Position 217 of 457 in South Dakota places motor vehicle operators, all other in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $45,400 after the full tax stack, from $53,790. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $51,536 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $48,800 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Motor Vehicle Operators, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,920 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $64,940 |
| This salary | $53,790 |
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 | $45,400 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,400 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,815 |
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 | $53,790 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,824 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $53,790 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $23,920 and the ninetieth is $64,940 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $45,400, from $53,790, 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 217 of 457 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $51,536, the adjusted value of that $53,790 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 217 of 457 locally.
- The South Dakota median of $53,790 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $23,920 to $64,940. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for South Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $45,400 from $53,790. 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 217 of 457 locally.
- This $51,536 adjusted figure, worked from $53,790, 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 217 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 217 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 $48,800 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $23,920 and the top tenth $64,940 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $51,536 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $45,400 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?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $48,800. 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 ($23,920) and the ninetieth ($64,940) 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 $51,536 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 $45,400 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.