Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$56,731
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$11,359
16.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,398
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
$68,090
Kept after tax
$56,731
Worth in national money
$64,398
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $68,090, ranking 30 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 128 among 457 occupations South Dakota publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $68,090 you keep $56,731 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $64,398 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $64,300.
- South Dakota occupies the middle band for stationary engineers and boiler operators: a median of $68,090, ranking 30 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 128 of 457 in South Dakota places stationary engineers and boiler operators 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.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $56,731 after the full tax stack, from $68,090. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $64,398 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $64,300 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,310 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $68,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,770 |
| This salary | $68,090 |
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 | $56,731 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $56,731 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$6,017 |
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 | $68,090 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$8,312 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $68,090 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $43,310 and the ninetieth is $75,770 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In South Dakota the take-home figure of $56,731, from $68,090, 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 128 of 457 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $64,398 uses one figure for the whole of South Dakota. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 457 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 128.
- The South Dakota median of $68,090 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $43,310 to $75,770. 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 $56,731 from $68,090. 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 128 of 457 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $64,398, worked from $68,090, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular South Dakota address, on work sitting at 128 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 $64,300, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $43,310 at the bottom tenth to $75,770 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $64,398.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $56,731 survives, because South Dakota levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
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 $64,300. 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 ($43,310 to $75,770) 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 $64,398 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 $56,731 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.