Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing in South Dakota
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,718
after federal, FICA and South Dakota tax
Tax takes
$6,022
14.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,545
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
$41,740
Kept after tax
$35,718
Worth in national money
$40,545
State rank
28
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Dakota sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $41,740, ranking 28 of 47 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in South Dakota, this one sits low: 363 of 457 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where South Dakota does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $41,740 you keep $35,718, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $40,545 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $42,470, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Dakota occupies the middle band for woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing: a median of $41,740, ranking 28 of 47. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing occupies position 363 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.
- After federal, FICA and South Dakota income tax, retained pay for woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing on $41,740 is $35,718. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $40,545 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 $42,470 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,070 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $51,870 |
| This salary | $41,740 |
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 | $35,718 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,718 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,789 |
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 | $41,740 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,582 |
| 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 $41,740. The published range is $31,070 up to $51,870, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $35,718 take-home in South Dakota comes from $41,740. 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 363 of 457.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $40,545 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 363.
- Reported values are medians; for woodworking machine setters, operators, and tenders, except sawing in South Dakota the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,070 to $51,870. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $35,718, from $41,740, 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 363 of 457 locally, and the state ranks 28 of 47 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $40,545, worked from $41,740, 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 363 of 457 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,070 at the bottom tenth to $51,870 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 $40,545 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
Most of it arrives. $35,718 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 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,070 to $51,870) 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 $40,545 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 $35,718 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.