Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,288
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$8,362
15.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,408
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
$53,650
Kept after tax
$45,288
Worth in national money
$51,408
State rank
43
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in South Dakota. The middle earner gets $53,650. That is 43 of 51 states, and about 9.6% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in South Dakota, this sits in the middle: 219 of 457 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- South Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $53,650 the take-home is $45,288; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $51,408 would nationally. The average comes to $54,760, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors, South Dakota sits in the lower band at $53,650, ranking 43 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 9.6%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors ranks 219 of 457 occupations in South Dakota by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in South Dakota, on $53,650, is $45,288 — equivalent to $51,408 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 $54,760 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $67,010 |
| This salary | $53,650 |
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 | $45,288 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,288 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,804 |
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 | $53,650 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,809 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in South Dakota earn less than $53,650. The published range is $39,210 up to $67,010, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $45,288 take-home in South Dakota comes from $53,650. 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 219 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 $51,408, the adjusted value of that $53,650 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 219 of 457 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for substance abuse, behavioral disorder, and mental health counselors in South Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $39,210 to $67,010. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $45,288, from $53,650, 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 219 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $51,408 — the adjusted value of that $53,650 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 219 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $39,210 at the bottom tenth to $67,010 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. South Dakota is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $51,408 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Less than people assume. $45,288 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?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($39,210 to $67,010) 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 $51,408 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 $45,288 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.