Soil and Plant Scientists in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,601
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$12,989
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$68,790
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
$73,590
Kept after tax
$60,601
Worth in national money
$68,790
State rank
25
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota sits in the middle of the pack for soil and plant scientists. The median is $73,590, ranking 25 of 46 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 457 occupations South Dakota reports, soil and plant scientists comes in at 110 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- South Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $73,590 the take-home is $60,601; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $68,790 would nationally. The average comes to $79,240, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- South Dakota occupies the middle band for soil and plant scientists: a median of $73,590, ranking 25 of 46. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Soil and plant scientists ranks 110 of 457 occupations by median in South Dakota, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for soil and plant scientists in South Dakota, on $73,590, is $60,601 — equivalent to $68,790 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 $79,240 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Soil and Plant Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,980 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $73,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $120,970 |
| This salary | $73,590 |
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 | $60,601 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,601 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,428 |
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 | $73,590 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$8,879 |
| 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 soil and plant scientists in South Dakota earn under $73,590 and half over. The published range runs $51,980 at the tenth percentile to $120,970 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $60,601, from $73,590, 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 110 of 457 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of South Dakota, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $68,790, the adjusted value of that $73,590 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 110 of 457 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for soil and plant scientists in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $51,980 to $120,970; 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.
- Take-home for South Dakota is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $60,601 from $73,590. 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 110 of 457 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $68,790 — the adjusted value of that $73,590 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 110 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $79,240 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $51,980 at the bottom tenth to $120,970 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $68,790 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $60,601 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.
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 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $79,240. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($51,980) and the ninetieth ($120,970) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $68,790 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 $60,601 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.