Physician Assistants in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$102,308
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$30,892
23.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$116,134
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
$133,200
Kept after tax
$102,308
Worth in national money
$116,134
State rank
32
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. South Dakota is 32 of 51 states for physician assistants, with a middle wage of $133,200. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 457 occupations South Dakota reports, physician assistants comes in at 15 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $133,200 you keep $102,308, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $116,134 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $131,910, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- South Dakota ranks 32 of 51 for physician assistants at $133,200. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Physician assistants ranks 15 of 457 occupations by median in South Dakota, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for physician assistants on $133,200 is $102,308. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $116,134 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 $131,910 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Physician Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $104,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $133,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $158,020 |
| This salary | $133,200 |
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 | $102,308 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $102,308 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$10,852 |
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 | $133,200 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$15,428 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $133,200 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $104,660 and the ninetieth is $158,020 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $102,308 take-home in South Dakota comes from $133,200. 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 15 of 457.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $116,134 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 15.
- The South Dakota median of $133,200 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $104,660 to $158,020. 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 $102,308, from $133,200, 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 15 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 32 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $116,134, worked from $133,200, 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 15 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $104,660 at the bottom tenth to $158,020 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $116,134 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $102,308 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?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($104,660 to $158,020) 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 $116,134 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 $102,308 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.