Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,063
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$8,307
15.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,152
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
$53,370
Kept after tax
$45,063
Worth in national money
$51,152
State rank
34
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $53,370, ranking 34 of 50 states — about 11.08% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 457 occupations South Dakota reports figures for, this is number 220.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $53,370 you keep $45,063 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $51,152 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $55,750, since top earners drag the number up.
- South Dakota ranks 34 of 50 for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators, with a median of $53,370 — about 11.08% 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.
- In South Dakota's occupational distribution, water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators sits at 220 of 457 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in South Dakota is $45,063 after the full tax stack, from $53,370. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $51,152 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $55,750 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,170 |
| This salary | $53,370 |
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 | $45,063 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,063 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$4,780 |
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 | $53,370 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$5,781 |
| 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 $53,370. The published range is $43,890 up to $73,170, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $45,063 take-home in South Dakota comes from $53,370. 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 220 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 $51,152, the adjusted value of that $53,370 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 220 of 457 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for water and wastewater treatment plant and system operators in South Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $43,890 to $73,170. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $45,063, from $53,370, 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 220 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 34 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Dakota, so $51,152 — the adjusted value of that $53,370 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 220 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 $55,750, 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?
The range here is narrow. From $43,890 at the bottom tenth to $73,170 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $51,152 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $45,063 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 $55,750. 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 ($43,890 to $73,170) 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 $51,152 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 $45,063 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.