Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,936
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$6,564
14.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,062
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
$44,500
Kept after tax
$37,936
Worth in national money
$43,062
State rank
16
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 $44,500, which ranks 16 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 16.68% above the national middle.
- Against other work in South Dakota, this sits in the middle: 338 of 457 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $44,500 you keep $37,936 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $43,062 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $42,440.
- South Dakota ranks 16 of 51 states publishing a median for preschool teachers, except special education, at $44,500 — about 16.68% 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.
- Preschool teachers, except special education ranks 338 of 457 occupations in South Dakota by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $37,936 after the full tax stack, from $44,500. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $43,062 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $42,440 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,980 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,500 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,370 |
| This salary | $44,500 |
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 | $37,936 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,936 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,024 |
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 | $44,500 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,866 |
| 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 preschool teachers, except special education in South Dakota earn under $44,500 and half over. The published range runs $30,980 at the tenth percentile to $56,370 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 $37,936, worked from $44,500. 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 338 of 457.
- Two cautions on $43,062, the adjusted value of that $44,500 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of South Dakota. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 338 of 457 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for preschool teachers, except special education in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,980 to $56,370; 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 $37,936, on $44,500 for work ranking 338 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 338 of 457 in the state.
- This $43,062 adjusted figure, worked from $44,500, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 338 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 338 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $42,440, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $30,980 and the top tenth $56,370, 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 $43,062 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $37,936 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?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $42,440. 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 ($30,980 to $56,370) 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 $43,062 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 $37,936 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.