Tax Preparers in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,388
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$8,142
15.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,386
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
$52,530
Kept after tax
$44,388
Worth in national money
$50,386
State rank
20
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. South Dakota is 20 of 48 states for tax preparers, with a middle wage of $52,530. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Tax preparers ranks 227 among 457 occupations South Dakota publishes pay for.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $52,530 you keep $44,388, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $50,386 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $55,710, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Dakota ranks 20 of 48 for tax preparers at $52,530. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 227 of 457 in South Dakota places tax preparers 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 tax preparers on $52,530 is $44,388. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $50,386 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 $55,710 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Tax Preparers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,530 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,480 |
| This salary | $52,530 |
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 | $44,388 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,388 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,708 |
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 | $52,530 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,694 |
| 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 $52,530. The published range is $39,080 up to $77,480, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Dakota's $44,388, worked from $52,530. 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 227 of 457.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $50,386 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 227.
- Reported values are medians; for tax preparers in South Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $39,080 to $77,480. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The South Dakota take-home of $44,388, on $52,530 for work ranking 227 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 227 of 457 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $50,386, worked from $52,530, 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 227 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $55,710 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $39,080 and the top tenth $77,480 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $50,386 in national terms.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $44,388 survives, because South Dakota levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 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 $55,710. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($39,080) and the ninetieth ($77,480) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $50,386 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 $44,388 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.