Tree Trimmers and Pruners in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,701
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$7,730
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,471
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
$50,430
Kept after tax
$42,701
Worth in national money
$48,471
State rank
22
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. South Dakota is 22 of 49 states for tree trimmers and pruners, with a middle wage of $50,430. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Tree trimmers and pruners ranks 251 among 457 occupations South Dakota publishes pay for.
- South Dakota is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $50,430 the take-home is $42,701; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $48,471 would nationally. The average comes to $54,370, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- South Dakota ranks 22 of 49 for tree trimmers and pruners at $50,430. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 251 of 457 in South Dakota places tree trimmers and pruners 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.
- Post-tax income for tree trimmers and pruners in South Dakota, on $50,430, is $42,701 — equivalent to $48,471 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 $54,370 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Tree Trimmers and Pruners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,040 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $70,650 |
| This salary | $50,430 |
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 | $42,701 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,701 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,529 |
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 | $50,430 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,477 |
| 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 tree trimmers and pruners in South Dakota earn under $50,430 and half over. The published range runs $40,040 at the tenth percentile to $70,650 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $42,701 take-home in South Dakota comes from $50,430. 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 251 of 457.
- Two cautions on $48,471, the adjusted value of that $50,430 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 251 of 457 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for tree trimmers and pruners in South Dakota, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $40,040 to $70,650; 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.
- Retained pay of $42,701, from $50,430, 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 251 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 22 of 49 for it.
- This $48,471 adjusted figure, worked from $50,430, 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 251 of 457 in the state. The occupation ranks 251 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 $54,370, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $40,040 at the tenth percentile, $70,650 at the ninetieth.
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 $48,471.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $42,701 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?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $54,370. 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 ($40,040 to $70,650) 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 $48,471 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 $42,701 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.