Natural Sciences Managers in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$98,850
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$29,290
22.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$112,208
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
$128,140
Kept after tax
$98,850
Worth in national money
$112,208
State rank
31
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. South Dakota pays natural sciences managers around $128,140 at the midpoint, 31 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 457 occupations South Dakota reports, natural sciences managers comes in at 19 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $128,140 you keep $98,850 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $112,208 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $137,210, since top earners drag the number up.
- For natural sciences managers the South Dakota median is $128,140, ranking 31 of 48 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.
- Natural sciences managers ranks 19 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 $98,850 after the full tax stack, from $128,140. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $112,208 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $137,210 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Natural Sciences Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $94,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $128,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $213,210 |
| This salary | $128,140 |
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 | $98,850 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $98,850 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$10,485 |
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 | $128,140 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$14,906 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $128,140 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $94,520 and the ninetieth is $213,210 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $98,850 take-home in South Dakota comes from $128,140. 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 19 of 457.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $112,208 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 19.
- The South Dakota median of $128,140 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $94,520 to $213,210. 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 $98,850, from $128,140, 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 19 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 31 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $112,208, worked from $128,140, 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 19 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 $137,210 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 $94,520 at the bottom tenth to $213,210 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $112,208.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $98,850 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?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $137,210. 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 ($94,520) and the ninetieth ($213,210) 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 $112,208 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 $98,850 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.