Optometrists in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$80,812
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$21,508
21.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$91,733
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
$102,320
Kept after tax
$80,812
Worth in national money
$91,733
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Dakota pays optometrists a middle wage of $102,320, 50 of 51 states and about 25.08% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within South Dakota this is well-paid work. Of 457 occupations with published figures in the state, optometrists ranks 35 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $102,320 you keep $80,812, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $91,733 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $118,060, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Dakota's $102,320 median for optometrists places it 50 of 51 states, about 25.08% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Ranked against every occupation South Dakota publishes a median for, optometrists sits 35 of 457 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for optometrists on $102,320 is $80,812. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $91,733 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $118,060 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Optometrists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $90,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $102,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $174,920 |
| This salary | $102,320 |
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 | $80,812 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $80,812 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$8,571 |
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 | $102,320 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$11,840 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $102,320 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $90,560 and the ninetieth is $174,920 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $80,812, from $102,320, 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 35 of 457 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $91,733, the adjusted value of that $102,320 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 35 of 457 locally.
- The South Dakota median of $102,320 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $90,560 to $174,920. 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 $80,812 from $102,320. 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 35 of 457 locally.
- This $91,733 adjusted figure, worked from $102,320, 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 35 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 35 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 $118,060 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 $90,560 and the top tenth $174,920 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $91,733 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $80,812 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
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.
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 $118,060. 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 ($90,560) and the ninetieth ($174,920) 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 $91,733 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 $80,812 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.