Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics in South Dakota

Wrenches, screwdrivers and gloves on an organized repair workbench.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$35,590

after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax

Tax takes

$5,990

14.4% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$40,399

South Dakota costs less than average

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

$41,580

Kept after tax

$35,590

Worth in national money

$40,399

State rank

46

of 49 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • Pay for this job is on the low side in South Dakota. The middle earner gets $41,580. That is 46 of 49 states, and about 13.16% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
  • Against 457 occupations South Dakota publishes, this job lands at 366. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
  • Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $41,580 you keep $35,590, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $40,399 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $44,020, because the best-paid pull it up.
  • For outdoor power equipment and other small engine mechanics, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $41,580, ranking 46 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 13.16%. 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 366 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.
  • After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for outdoor power equipment and other small engine mechanics on $41,580 is $35,590. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $40,399 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 $44,020 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.

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Pay band: Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$34,770
Half earn under$41,580
Top tenth earn over$57,660
This salary$41,580

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

Compare with
$0take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in South Dakota$35,590
Take-home in Texas$35,590
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$3,775

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

Moving to
$0$46,145
$46,145in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$41,580
Raise you would need+$4,565
Prices in Texas97 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 outdoor power equipment and other small engine mechanics in South Dakota earn under $41,580 and half over. The published range runs $34,770 at the tenth percentile to $57,660 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
  • In South Dakota the take-home figure of $35,590, from $41,580, 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 366 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 $40,399, the adjusted value of that $41,580 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 366 of 457 in the state.
  • Figures are distribution medians for outdoor power equipment and other small engine mechanics in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,770 to $57,660; 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 $35,590 from $41,580. 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 366 of 457 locally.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $40,399 — the adjusted value of that $41,580 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 366 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 $44,020 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $34,770 at the tenth percentile, $57,660 at the ninetieth.

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 $40,399 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.

Is most of this wage taxed away?

Less than people assume. $35,590 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.

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 $44,020. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?

The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($34,770 to $57,660) 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 $40,399 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 $35,590 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.