Public Safety Telecommunicators in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,668
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$7,232
15.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,163
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
$47,900
Kept after tax
$40,668
Worth in national money
$46,163
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Dakota pays this job a middle wage of $47,900, 37 of 51 states and about 9.69% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 457 occupations South Dakota reports figures for, this is number 289.
- South Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $47,900 the take-home is $40,668; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $46,163 would nationally. The average comes to $48,560, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- South Dakota's $47,900 median for public safety telecommunicators places it 37 of 51 states, about 9.69% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- In South Dakota's occupational distribution, public safety telecommunicators sits at 289 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 public safety telecommunicators in South Dakota, on $47,900, is $40,668 — equivalent to $46,163 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 $48,560 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Public Safety Telecommunicators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,310 |
| This salary | $47,900 |
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 | $40,668 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,668 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,313 |
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 | $47,900 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,217 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $47,900 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,960 and the ninetieth is $60,310 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $40,668, from $47,900, 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 289 of 457 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $46,163 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 289.
- The South Dakota median of $47,900 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,960 to $60,310. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for South Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $40,668 from $47,900. 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 289 of 457 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $46,163, worked from $47,900, 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 289 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,960 at the tenth percentile, $60,310 at the ninetieth.
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 $46,163.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $40,668 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
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 ($36,960 to $60,310) 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 $46,163 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 $40,668 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.