Substitute Teachers, Short-Term in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$24,536
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$3,304
11.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,852
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
$27,840
Kept after tax
$24,536
Worth in national money
$27,852
State rank
45
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is among the lower-paying states for substitute teachers, short-term. The middle earner takes $27,840, ranking 45 of 50 states — about 33.19% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in South Dakota, this one sits low: 456 of 457 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- South Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $27,840 the take-home is $24,536; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $27,852 would nationally. The average comes to $29,220, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- South Dakota ranks 45 of 50 for substitute teachers, short-term, with a median of $27,840 — about 33.19% 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.
- Substitute teachers, short-term occupies position 456 of 457 in South Dakota's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for substitute teachers, short-term in South Dakota, on $27,840, is $24,536 — equivalent to $27,852 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 $29,220 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Substitute Teachers, Short-Term
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $25,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $27,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $34,700 |
| This salary | $27,840 |
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 | $24,536 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $24,536 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,602 |
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 | $27,840 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,131 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 88 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $27,840 as a midpoint for South Dakota, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $25,560 and the ninetieth is $34,700 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Dakota's $24,536, worked from $27,840. 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 456 of 457.
- Two cautions on $27,852, the adjusted value of that $27,840 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 456 of 457 locally.
- The South Dakota median of $27,840 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $25,560 to $34,700. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The South Dakota take-home of $24,536, on $27,840 for work ranking 456 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 456 of 457 in the state.
- This $27,852 adjusted figure, worked from $27,840, 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 456 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 456 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $29,220, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $25,560 and the top tenth $34,700, so most people doing this work in South Dakota sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $27,852 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $24,536 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.
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 $29,220. 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 ($25,560 to $34,700) 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 $27,852 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 $24,536 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.