Social Workers, All Other in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,790
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$18,970
20.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$84,897
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
$93,760
Kept after tax
$74,790
Worth in national money
$84,897
State rank
12
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for social workers, all other is strong here. South Dakota's middle earner gets $93,760, putting the state 12 of 50 — about 30.4% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in South Dakota. It ranks 50 out of 457 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $93,760 you keep $74,790 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $84,897 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $91,250.
- For social workers, all other, South Dakota sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $93,760, ranking 12 of 50 and running about 30.4% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Within South Dakota, social workers, all other ranks 50 of 457 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $74,790 after the full tax stack, from $93,760. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $84,897 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $91,250 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Social Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $76,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $93,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $109,010 |
| This salary | $93,760 |
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 | $74,790 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $74,790 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$7,933 |
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 | $93,760 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$10,958 |
| 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 social workers, all other in South Dakota earn under $93,760 and half over. The published range runs $76,520 at the tenth percentile to $109,010 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Dakota's $74,790, worked from $93,760. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 50 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 $84,897, the adjusted value of that $93,760 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 50 of 457 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for social workers, all other in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $76,520 to $109,010; 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.
- The South Dakota take-home of $74,790, on $93,760 for work ranking 50 of 457 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 50 of 457 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $84,897 — the adjusted value of that $93,760 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 50 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $76,520 at the tenth percentile, $109,010 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 $84,897 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $74,790 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 50 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 ($76,520 to $109,010) 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 $84,897 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 $74,790 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.