Radiation Therapists in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,400
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$20,070
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$87,860
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
$97,470
Kept after tax
$77,400
Worth in national money
$87,860
State rank
34
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for radiation therapists is on the low side in South Dakota. The middle earner gets $97,470. That is 34 of 46 states, and about 7.44% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Within South Dakota this is well-paid work. Of 457 occupations with published figures in the state, radiation therapists ranks 46 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $97,470 you keep $77,400, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $87,860 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $106,820, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For radiation therapists, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $97,470, ranking 34 of 46 and trailing the national median by about 7.44%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Ranked against every occupation South Dakota publishes a median for, radiation therapists sits 46 of 457 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for radiation therapists on $97,470 is $77,400. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $87,860 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 $106,820 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Radiation Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $80,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,470 |
| Top tenth earn over | $138,030 |
| This salary | $97,470 |
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 | $77,400 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,400 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$8,210 |
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 | $97,470 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$11,340 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in South Dakota earn less than $97,470. The published range is $80,140 up to $138,030, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $77,400 take-home in South Dakota comes from $97,470. 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 46 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 $87,860, the adjusted value of that $97,470 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 46 of 457 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for radiation therapists in South Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $80,140 to $138,030. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $77,400, from $97,470, 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 46 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 34 of 46 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $87,860 — the adjusted value of that $97,470 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 46 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 $106,820, 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?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $80,140 at the tenth percentile, $138,030 at the ninetieth.
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 $87,860 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $77,400 lands after tax, since there is no state income tax on wages here — though the federal floor is identical in every state.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $106,820. 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 ($80,140 to $138,030) 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 $87,860 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 $77,400 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.