Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,651
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$9,919
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$58,632
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
$61,570
Kept after tax
$51,651
Worth in national money
$58,632
State rank
2
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $61,570, which ranks 2 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 5.3% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 457 occupations South Dakota reports figures for, this is number 170.
- South Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $61,570 the take-home is $51,651; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $58,632 would nationally. The average comes to $62,850, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- South Dakota ranks 2 of 51 states publishing a median for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators, at $61,570 — about 5.3% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- In South Dakota's occupational distribution, postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators sits at 170 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.
- Post-tax income for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in South Dakota, on $61,570, is $51,651 — equivalent to $58,632 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $62,850 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,880 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,280 |
| This salary | $61,570 |
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 | $51,651 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,651 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,479 |
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 | $61,570 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,867 |
| 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 postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in South Dakota earn under $61,570 and half over. The published range runs $48,880 at the tenth percentile to $75,280 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $51,651 take-home in South Dakota comes from $61,570. 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 170 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 $58,632, the adjusted value of that $61,570 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 170 of 457 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $48,880 to $75,280; 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.
- Retained pay of $51,651, from $61,570, 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 170 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 2 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $58,632 — the adjusted value of that $61,570 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 170 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $48,880 and the top tenth $75,280, so most people doing this work in South Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $58,632 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $51,651 survives, because South Dakota levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($48,880 to $75,280) 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 $58,632 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 $51,651 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.