---
title: "Average Salary in South Dakota"
description: "Mean $57,610, median $47,080 in South Dakota (BLS OEWS May 2025), with prices, pay by field and top jobs."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/average-salary/south-dakota"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Average salary in South Dakota

Mean annual wage $57,610, median $47,080 (US: $69,770 / $50,980), BLS OEWS May 2025. Median at national-average prices: $53,150 (rank 23 of 51 by that measure; rank 43 nominal).

| Percentile | South Dakota | US |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 10th | $29,300 | $31,200 |
| 25th | $36,030 | $37,590 |
| 50th | $47,080 | $50,980 |
| 75th | $64,020 | $80,520 |
| 90th | $94,900 | $128,560 |

## Price levels (BEA Regional Price Parities, US = 100)

| Category | Index |
| --- | --- |
| All items | 88.6 |
| Housing (rents) | 67.6 |
| Goods | 95.5 |
| Utilities | 79.7 |
| Other services | 91.9 |

## By occupation group

| Group | Median | Workers |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Management | $110,270 | 17,580 |
| Legal | $88,400 | 2,210 |
| Architecture and Engineering | $82,040 | 6,560 |
| Computer and Mathematical | $81,420 | 9,670 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical | $77,740 | 35,450 |
| Business and Financial Operations | $77,730 | 25,560 |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science | $65,570 | 4,700 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | $58,890 | 20,090 |
| Protective Service | $52,140 | 7,540 |
| Community and Social Service | $51,220 | 8,150 |
| Construction and Extraction | $50,120 | 26,200 |
| Educational Instruction and Library | $48,850 | 26,300 |
| Production | $46,220 | 31,240 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media | $46,040 | 4,880 |
| Office and Administrative Support | $44,010 | 52,830 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry | $43,630 | 1,680 |
| Transportation and Material Moving | $40,190 | 39,670 |
| Healthcare Support | $39,190 | 16,390 |
| Sales | $37,050 | 46,500 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance | $35,170 | 17,030 |
| Personal Care and Service | $34,830 | 11,920 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related | $30,060 | 45,220 |

## Most common jobs

- [Fast Food and Counter Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/fast-food-and-counter-worker): 15,150 workers
- [Registered Nurse](https://nuecareer.com/careers/registered-nurse): 14,710 workers
- [Retail Salesperson](https://nuecareer.com/careers/retail-salesperson): 14,180 workers
- [Cashier](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cashier): 12,860 workers
- [Stocker and Order Filler](https://nuecareer.com/careers/stocker-and-order-filler): 11,460 workers
- [Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/bookkeeping-accounting-and-auditing-clerk): 10,200 workers
- [Janitor and Cleaner, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners](https://nuecareer.com/careers/janitor-and-cleaner): 8,630 workers
- [Server](https://nuecareer.com/careers/server): 7,350 workers
- [Nursing Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nursing-assistant): 6,860 workers
- [Truck Driver](https://nuecareer.com/careers/truck-driver): 6,470 workers

## Highest-paying jobs (500+ workers)

- [Chief Executive](https://nuecareer.com/careers/chief-executive): $280,900 median
- [Family Medicine Physician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/family-medicine-physician): $239,970 median
- [Financial Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/financial-manager): $159,700 median
- [Pharmacist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/pharmacist): $146,790 median
- [General and Operations Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/general-and-operations-manager): $137,400 median
- [Physician Assistant](https://nuecareer.com/careers/physician-assistant): $133,200 median
- [Nurse Practitioner](https://nuecareer.com/careers/nurse-practitioner): $128,840 median
- [Financial Advisor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/financial-advisor): $128,720 median
- [Medical and Health Services Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/medical-and-health-services-manager): $122,050 median
- [Regulatory Affairs Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/regulatory-affairs-manager): $119,470 median

## Most over-represented jobs (location quotient)

- [Residential Advisor](https://nuecareer.com/careers/residential-advisor): 7.15x the national share
- [Cook, Short Order](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cook-short-order): 4.91x the national share
- [Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutter and Trimmer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/meat-poultry-and-fish-cutter-and-trimmer): 4.86x the national share
- [Cement Mason and Concrete Finisher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cement-mason-and-concrete-finisher): 4.21x the national share
- [Highway Maintenance Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/highway-maintenance-worker): 3.95x the national share
- [Loan Interviewer and Clerk](https://nuecareer.com/careers/loan-interviewer-and-clerk): 3.53x the national share
- [Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-numerically-controlled-tool-operator): 2.85x the national share
- [Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/water-and-wastewater-treatment-plant-and-system-operator): 2.82x the national share
- [Welder](https://nuecareer.com/careers/welder): 2.66x the national share
- [Parts Salesperson](https://nuecareer.com/careers/parts-salesperson): 2.65x the national share

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology