Structural Iron and Steel Workers in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,020
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$9,030
15.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,509
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
$57,050
Kept after tax
$48,020
Worth in national money
$54,509
State rank
38
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Dakota pays structural iron and steel workers a middle wage of $57,050, 38 of 50 states and about 9.13% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Structural iron and steel workers ranks 206 among 457 occupations South Dakota publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $57,050 you keep $48,020 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $54,509 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $56,500.
- South Dakota's $57,050 median for structural iron and steel workers places it 38 of 50 states, about 9.13% 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.
- Position 206 of 457 in South Dakota places structural iron and steel workers 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 $48,020 after the full tax stack, from $57,050. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,509 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $56,500 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Structural Iron and Steel Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,380 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,050 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,800 |
| This salary | $57,050 |
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 | $48,020 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,020 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$5,093 |
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 | $57,050 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$6,160 |
| 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 structural iron and steel workers in South Dakota earn under $57,050 and half over. The published range runs $45,380 at the tenth percentile to $74,800 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 $48,020, worked from $57,050. 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 206 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 $54,509, the adjusted value of that $57,050 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 206 of 457 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for structural iron and steel workers in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,380 to $74,800; 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 $48,020, on $57,050 for work ranking 206 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 206 of 457 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $54,509 — the adjusted value of that $57,050 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 206 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $45,380 at the tenth percentile, $74,800 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 $54,509 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $48,020 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?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($45,380 to $74,800) 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 $54,509 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 $48,020 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.