Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,231
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$7,859
15.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,073
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
$51,090
Kept after tax
$43,231
Worth in national money
$49,073
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $51,090, ranking 48 of 51 states — about 21.54% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 240 among 457 occupations South Dakota publishes pay for.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $51,090 you keep $43,231, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $49,073 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $53,530, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Dakota ranks 48 of 51 for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school, with a median of $51,090 — about 21.54% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Position 240 of 457 in South Dakota places special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for special education teachers, kindergarten and elementary school on $51,090 is $43,231. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $49,073 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 $53,530 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,300 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,740 |
| This salary | $51,090 |
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 | $43,231 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,231 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,585 |
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 | $51,090 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,546 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $51,090 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $47,300 and the ninetieth is $61,740 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $43,231 take-home in South Dakota comes from $51,090. 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 240 of 457.
- Two cautions on $49,073, the adjusted value of that $51,090 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 240 of 457 locally.
- The South Dakota median of $51,090 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $47,300 to $61,740. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $43,231, from $51,090, 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 240 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 48 of 51 for it.
- This $49,073 adjusted figure, worked from $51,090, 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 240 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 240 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 $53,530, 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 $47,300 and the top tenth $61,740, 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 $49,073.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $43,231 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 $53,530. 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 ($47,300 to $61,740) 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 $49,073 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 $43,231 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.