Recreation Workers in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,144
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$6,126
14.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,028
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
$42,270
Kept after tax
$36,144
Worth in national money
$41,028
State rank
3
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is one of the better-paying states for recreation workers. The middle earner takes $42,270, which ranks 3 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 15.62% above the national middle.
- Against 457 occupations South Dakota publishes, recreation workers lands at 359. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- South Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $42,270 the take-home is $36,144; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $41,028 would nationally. The average comes to $44,200, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- South Dakota ranks 3 of 51 states publishing a median for recreation workers, at $42,270 — about 15.62% 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.
- Within South Dakota, this work ranks 359 of 457 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for recreation workers in South Dakota, on $42,270, is $36,144 — equivalent to $41,028 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 $44,200 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Recreation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,270 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,470 |
| This salary | $42,270 |
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 | $36,144 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,144 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,834 |
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 | $42,270 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,636 |
| 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 recreation workers in South Dakota earn under $42,270 and half over. The published range runs $32,390 at the tenth percentile to $60,470 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $36,144 take-home in South Dakota comes from $42,270. 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 359 of 457.
- Two cautions on $41,028, the adjusted value of that $42,270 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 359 of 457 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for recreation workers in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $32,390 to $60,470; 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 $36,144, from $42,270, 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 359 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 3 of 51 for it.
- This $41,028 adjusted figure, worked from $42,270, 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 359 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 359 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $44,200, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $32,390 and the top tenth $60,470, 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 $41,028.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $36,144 of this wage reaches your account, because South Dakota takes no income tax from wages — but federal tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply exactly as they do everywhere else.
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 $44,200. 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 ($32,390 to $60,470) 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 $41,028 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 $36,144 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.