Phlebotomists in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,966
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$5,594
14.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,557
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
$39,560
Kept after tax
$33,966
Worth in national money
$38,557
State rank
38
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Dakota pays phlebotomists a middle wage of $39,560, 38 of 51 states and about 12.54% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within South Dakota this is lower-paid work. Of 457 occupations the state publishes figures for, phlebotomists ranks 380. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $39,560 you keep $33,966 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $38,557 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $39,590, since top earners drag the number up.
- South Dakota's $39,560 median for phlebotomists places it 38 of 51 states, about 12.54% 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.
- Against every occupation South Dakota reports, phlebotomists ranks 380 of 457, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $33,966 after the full tax stack, from $39,560. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $38,557 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $39,590 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Phlebotomists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,360 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,240 |
| This salary | $39,560 |
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 | $33,966 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,966 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,603 |
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 | $39,560 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,357 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $39,560 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,360 and the ninetieth is $45,240 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $33,966 take-home in South Dakota comes from $39,560. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 380 of 457.
- One number stands for prices across all of South Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $38,557, the adjusted value of that $39,560 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 380 of 457 in the state.
- The South Dakota median of $39,560 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,360 to $45,240. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $33,966, from $39,560, assumes a single South Dakota filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 380 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 38 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $38,557 — the adjusted value of that $39,560 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 380 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $31,360 at the tenth percentile, $45,240 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 $38,557 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $33,966 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,360 to $45,240) 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 $38,557 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 $33,966 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.