Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,502
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$9,638
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,327
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
$60,140
Kept after tax
$50,502
Worth in national money
$57,327
State rank
20
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $60,140, ranking 20 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 457 occupations South Dakota reports figures for, this is number 185.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $60,140 you keep $50,502 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $57,327 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $61,370, since top earners drag the number up.
- South Dakota occupies the middle band for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators: a median of $60,140, ranking 20 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In South Dakota's occupational distribution, paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators sits at 185 of 457 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $50,502 after the full tax stack, from $60,140. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $57,327 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $61,370 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Paving, Surfacing, and Tamping Equipment Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,660 |
| This salary | $60,140 |
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 | $50,502 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,502 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,357 |
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 | $60,140 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,495 |
| 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 paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators in South Dakota earn under $60,140 and half over. The published range runs $49,220 at the tenth percentile to $74,660 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Dakota's $50,502, worked from $60,140. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 185 of 457.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $57,327 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 185.
- Figures are distribution medians for paving, surfacing, and tamping equipment operators in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $49,220 to $74,660; 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.
- The South Dakota take-home of $50,502, on $60,140 for work ranking 185 of 457 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 185 of 457 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $57,327, worked from $60,140, 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 185 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $49,220 at the tenth percentile, $74,660 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 $57,327 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $50,502 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?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($49,220 to $74,660) 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 $57,327 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 $50,502 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.