Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,985
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$9,755
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,875
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
$60,740
Kept after tax
$50,985
Worth in national money
$57,875
State rank
38
of 51 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 $60,740. That is 38 of 51 states, and about 20.3% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 179 among 457 occupations South Dakota publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $60,740 you keep $50,985 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $57,875 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $64,320, since top earners drag the number up.
- For police and sheriff's patrol officers, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $60,740, ranking 38 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 20.3%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 179 of 457 in South Dakota places police and sheriff's patrol officers 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 $50,985 after the full tax stack, from $60,740. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $57,875 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $64,320 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,540 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $91,900 |
| This salary | $60,740 |
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 | $50,985 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,985 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,408 |
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 | $60,740 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,651 |
| 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 police and sheriff's patrol officers in South Dakota earn under $60,740 and half over. The published range runs $47,540 at the tenth percentile to $91,900 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 $50,985, worked from $60,740. 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 179 of 457.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $57,875 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 179.
- Figures are distribution medians for police and sheriff's patrol officers in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,540 to $91,900; 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 $50,985, on $60,740 for work ranking 179 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 179 of 457 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $57,875, worked from $60,740, 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 179 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 $64,320 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $47,540 and the top tenth $91,900 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. South Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $57,875 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $50,985 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 $64,320. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($47,540) and the ninetieth ($91,900) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $57,875 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 $50,985 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.