Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$69,514
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$16,746
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$78,908
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
$86,260
Kept after tax
$69,514
Worth in national money
$78,908
State rank
35
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Dakota pays this job a middle wage of $86,260, 35 of 49 states and about 14.69% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within South Dakota this is well-paid work. Of 457 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 65 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $86,260 you keep $69,514 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $78,908 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $84,840.
- South Dakota's $86,260 median for social scientists and related workers, all other places it 35 of 49 states, about 14.69% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation South Dakota publishes a median for, social scientists and related workers, all other sits 65 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.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $69,514 after the full tax stack, from $86,260. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $78,908 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $84,840 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $86,260 |
| Top tenth earn over | $100,420 |
| This salary | $86,260 |
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 | $69,514 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $69,514 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$7,373 |
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 | $86,260 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$10,185 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $86,260 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $63,130 and the ninetieth is $100,420 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $69,514, from $86,260, 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 65 of 457 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $78,908, the adjusted value of that $86,260 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 65 of 457 locally.
- The South Dakota median of $86,260 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $63,130 to $100,420. 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 $69,514 from $86,260. 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 65 of 457 locally.
- This $78,908 adjusted figure, worked from $86,260, 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 65 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 65 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $63,130 at the tenth percentile, $100,420 at the ninetieth.
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 $78,908 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $69,514 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?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($63,130 to $100,420) 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 $78,908 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 $69,514 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.