Printing Press Operators in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,281
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$6,649
14.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,455
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
$44,930
Kept after tax
$38,281
Worth in national money
$43,455
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. South Dakota pays printing press operators around $44,930 at the midpoint, 28 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in South Dakota, this sits in the middle: 330 of 457 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $44,930 you keep $38,281, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $43,455 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $46,110, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For printing press operators the South Dakota median is $44,930, ranking 28 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Printing press operators ranks 330 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.
- After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for printing press operators on $44,930 is $38,281. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $43,455 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 $46,110 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Printing Press Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,980 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,930 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,800 |
| This salary | $44,930 |
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 | $38,281 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,281 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,060 |
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 | $44,930 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,911 |
| 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 printing press operators in South Dakota earn under $44,930 and half over. The published range runs $33,980 at the tenth percentile to $63,800 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $38,281, from $44,930, 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 330 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 $43,455, the adjusted value of that $44,930 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 330 of 457 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for printing press operators in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,980 to $63,800; 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 $38,281 from $44,930. 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 330 of 457 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $43,455 — the adjusted value of that $44,930 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 330 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $33,980 and the top tenth $63,800, 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 $43,455.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $38,281 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 ($33,980 to $63,800) 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 $43,455 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 $38,281 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.