Opticians, Dispensing in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,052
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$6,348
14.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,059
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
$43,400
Kept after tax
$37,052
Worth in national money
$42,059
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for opticians, dispensing is on the low side in South Dakota. The middle earner gets $43,400. That is 36 of 51 states, and about 8.17% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 457 occupations South Dakota publishes, opticians, dispensing lands at 352. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $43,400 you keep $37,052 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $42,059 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $42,560.
- For opticians, dispensing, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $43,400, ranking 36 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 8.17%. 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, this work ranks 352 of 457 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $37,052 after the full tax stack, from $43,400. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $42,059 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $42,560 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Opticians, Dispensing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,730 |
| This salary | $43,400 |
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 | $37,052 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,052 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,930 |
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 | $43,400 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,753 |
| 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 opticians, dispensing in South Dakota earn under $43,400 and half over. The published range runs $32,390 at the tenth percentile to $49,730 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $37,052, from $43,400, 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 352 of 457 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of South Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,059, the adjusted value of that $43,400 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 352 of 457 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for opticians, dispensing in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $32,390 to $49,730; 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.
- Take-home for South Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $37,052 from $43,400. 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 352 of 457 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $42,059 — the adjusted value of that $43,400 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 352 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $32,390 and the top tenth $49,730, so most people doing this work in South Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $42,059 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $37,052 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?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($32,390 to $49,730) 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 $42,059 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 $37,052 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.