Nuclear Medicine Technologists in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$66,524
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$15,486
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,514
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
$82,010
Kept after tax
$66,524
Worth in national money
$75,514
State rank
46
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for nuclear medicine technologists is on the low side in South Dakota. The middle earner gets $82,010. That is 46 of 49 states, and about 19.1% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in South Dakota. It ranks 75 out of 457 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $82,010 you keep $66,524 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $75,514 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $79,620.
- For nuclear medicine technologists, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $82,010, ranking 46 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 19.1%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within South Dakota, nuclear medicine technologists ranks 75 of 457 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $66,524 after the full tax stack, from $82,010. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $75,514 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $79,620 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Nuclear Medicine Technologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $82,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $101,940 |
| This salary | $82,010 |
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 | $66,524 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $66,524 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$7,056 |
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 | $82,010 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$9,747 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $82,010 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,090 and the ninetieth is $101,940 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $66,524, from $82,010, 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 75 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 $75,514 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 75.
- The South Dakota median of $82,010 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,090 to $101,940. 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 $66,524 from $82,010. 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 75 of 457 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $75,514, worked from $82,010, 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 75 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $39,090, the highest tenth $101,940, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $75,514 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $66,524 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.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($39,090) and the ninetieth ($101,940) 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 $75,514 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 $66,524 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.