Physical Therapist Assistants in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,801
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$7,509
15.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,449
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
$49,310
Kept after tax
$41,801
Worth in national money
$47,449
State rank
51
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is among the lower-paying states for physical therapist assistants. The middle earner takes $49,310, ranking 51 of 51 states — about 27.89% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Physical therapist assistants ranks 265 among 457 occupations South Dakota publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $49,310 you keep $41,801 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $47,449 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $52,170, since top earners drag the number up.
- South Dakota ranks 51 of 51 for physical therapist assistants, with a median of $49,310 — about 27.89% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Position 265 of 457 in South Dakota places physical therapist assistants in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $41,801 after the full tax stack, from $49,310. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $47,449 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $52,170 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Physical Therapist Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,310 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,930 |
| This salary | $49,310 |
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 | $41,801 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,801 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,434 |
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 | $49,310 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,362 |
| 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 physical therapist assistants in South Dakota earn under $49,310 and half over. The published range runs $40,120 at the tenth percentile to $63,930 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $41,801, from $49,310, 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 265 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 $47,449, the adjusted value of that $49,310 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 265 of 457 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for physical therapist assistants in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $40,120 to $63,930; 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 $41,801 from $49,310. 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 265 of 457 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $47,449 — the adjusted value of that $49,310 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 265 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 $52,170 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $40,120 and the top tenth $63,930, so most people doing this work in South Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $47,449.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $41,801 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.
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 $52,170. 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 ($40,120 to $63,930) 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 $47,449 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 $41,801 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.