Motorcycle Mechanics in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,535
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$6,955
15.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,877
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
$46,490
Kept after tax
$39,535
Worth in national money
$44,877
State rank
29
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. South Dakota pays motorcycle mechanics around $46,490 at the midpoint, 29 of 45 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in South Dakota, this sits in the middle: 308 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 $46,490 the take-home is $39,535; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $44,877 would nationally. The average comes to $47,880, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For motorcycle mechanics the South Dakota median is $46,490, ranking 29 of 45 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Motorcycle mechanics ranks 308 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 motorcycle mechanics in South Dakota, on $46,490, is $39,535 — equivalent to $44,877 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 $47,880 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Motorcycle Mechanics
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,310 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,040 |
| This salary | $46,490 |
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 | $39,535 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,535 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,193 |
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 | $46,490 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,071 |
| 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 motorcycle mechanics in South Dakota earn under $46,490 and half over. The published range runs $37,310 at the tenth percentile to $65,040 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $39,535 take-home in South Dakota comes from $46,490. 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 308 of 457.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $44,877 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 308.
- Figures are distribution medians for motorcycle mechanics in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,310 to $65,040; 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 $39,535, from $46,490, 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 308 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $44,877, worked from $46,490, 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 308 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $37,310 at the tenth percentile, $65,040 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 $44,877.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $39,535 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 45 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 ($37,310 to $65,040) 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 $44,877 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 $39,535 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.