The Rapid City, SD all-occupations median was 9.2% below the U.S. all-occupations median in the same release. Retail Salespersons had the largest published employment estimate among the 30 occupation rows shown on this hub, at 3,090.
Among those high-employment rows, Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks had the highest published location quotient at 4.57. A location quotient above 1.00 means a larger share of local employment than the national share; it does not measure job quality or future demand.
Occupation detail
Largest published occupations in Rapid City, SD
Sorted by published employment. Open a row for its local distribution, national comparison, and jobs.
Largest published occupation estimates by employment
Six high-employment rows from the bounded area summary. The table below keeps each full title and published field.
Retail Salespersons: 3,090 jobs. Fast Food and Counter...: 2,860 jobs. Registered Nurses: 2,480 jobs. Cashiers: 1,980 jobs. Bookkeeping, Accounti...: 1,720 jobs. Stockers and Order Fi...: 1,580 jobs.
BEA's 2024 all-items price index for Rapid City, SD was 89.2, or 10.8% below the national price level. Its housing index was 72.6.
National-price-dollar proxy
$51,895
WageScope divides the published all occupations median by the BEA all-items index. This is a price-level comparison, not take-home pay, a personal budget, or a quality-of-life score.
Wage period: BLS May 2025. Price period: BEA 2024. The releases describe different periods and are shown separately.
Price level in Rapid City, SD; U.S. = 100
U.S. baseline: 100.0. All items: 89.2. Housing: 72.6.
Read the all-jobs wage, role mix, local job shares, price-level context, and survey limits as separate facts. Every value stays tied to BLS area 39660.
Questions, answered
Wage data for Rapid City, SD: common questions
What is the all-occupations median wage in Rapid City, SD?
The May 2025 BLS OEWS release published an all-occupations median of $46,270 per year in Rapid City, SD. It combines covered wage and salary jobs and is not a median for every individual occupation.
How many wage and salary jobs does BLS estimate in Rapid City, SD?
BLS published an all-occupations employment estimate of 73,820 jobs for Rapid City, SD. It is a survey estimate, not a current opening count.
What is the largest detailed occupation shown for Rapid City, SD?
Retail Salespersons is the largest detailed occupation in the bounded table on this page, with 3,090 estimated jobs and a published median of $33,350 per year.
Does the Rapid City, SD wage data adjust for local prices?
From market data to your evidence
Tailor for a real Retail Salespersons job, not a generic wage number.
Pick an eligible listing, then MeritLog can help you prepare from experience you have confirmed. WageScope never turns a BLS estimate into a qualification or résumé claim.
What the all-jobs median says about Rapid City, SD
The May 2025 BLS OEWS estimate puts the all-occupations median in Rapid City, SD at $46,270 per year. This is the middle wage across covered wage and salary jobs in the area. It is not the median for each job title. It is not one worker's pay. Use an occupation page when you need a role-level answer.
BLS lists 73,820 covered jobs in Rapid City, SD. The all-occupations mean is $57,850 per year. Mean means add the wage values and split the total by the number of jobs behind the estimate. The median and mean can differ because the local wage mix is not even.
Rapid City, SD's $46,270 all-occupations median is 9.2% below the U.S. all-occupations median of $50,980 on the same published median. This is a wage check on the same source period. It does not add local price levels, taxes, hours, benefits, or household needs.
Rapid City, SD ranks 263 of 393 among metro areas with a published annual all-occupations median. WageScope keeps the map type the same. It does not place a state, metro, and nonmetro row in one rank. The rank uses the May 2025 BLS median only.
A rank is a place in a sorted list. It is not a score. It does not say a place is good or bad. It does not show the size of the job base. Rapid City, SD has 73,820 covered jobs, while another row near it can have a very different count.
The nearby rank rows give context without turning the list into a league table. Small gaps can move a place by several spots. A later BLS release can also change the order. Read the wage gap and the source date beside the rank. Do not use rank alone to make a move.
260. Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ has an all-occupations median of $46,330 per year and 72,300 covered jobs. Its wage gap from Rapid City, SD is $60.
261. Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA has an all-occupations median of $46,330 per year and 255,620 covered jobs. Its wage gap from Rapid City, SD is $60.
262. Decatur, AL has an all-occupations median of $46,280 per year and 61,240 covered jobs. Its wage gap from Rapid City, SD is $10.
264. Monroe, MI has an all-occupations median of $46,240 per year and 40,740 covered jobs. Its wage gap from Rapid City, SD is $30.
265. Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL has an all-occupations median of $46,240 per year and 190,480 covered jobs. Its wage gap from Rapid City, SD is $30.
266. Saginaw, MI has an all-occupations median of $46,200 per year and 80,000 covered jobs. Its wage gap from Rapid City, SD is $70.
The largest detailed occupations shown for Rapid City, SD
The role list is sorted by the BLS employment estimate. It shows detailed occupations from the bounded source table for Rapid City, SD. The first row, Retail Salespersons, has 3,090 estimated jobs. Its median is $33,350 per year.
Large roles shape the all-occupations wage mix, but they do not set it by themselves. A role with many jobs and a lower wage can pull the middle one way. A smaller role with a higher wage can move the mean. The all-occupations row is based on the whole covered job mix, not just the occupations shown in this bounded list.
Employment here means wage and salary jobs in the BLS survey scope. It does not mean people looking for work. It does not mean openings. It does not show how fast a role is changing. Use the current job cards only to inspect dated employer-title matches. Keep that view apart from this May 2025 job count.
1. Retail Salespersons has 3,090 estimated jobs in Rapid City, SD. Its published median is $33,350 per year. Its location quotient is 1.67.
2. Fast Food and Counter Workers has 2,860 estimated jobs in Rapid City, SD. Its published median is $29,440 per year. Its location quotient is 1.56.
3. Registered Nurses has 2,480 estimated jobs in Rapid City, SD. Its published median is $79,380 per year. Its location quotient is 1.55.
Role pay range
How published medians differ inside Rapid City, SD
The detailed roles shown for Rapid City, SD do not share one pay level. General and Operations Managers has the highest published median in this bounded role set, at $130,410 per year. That does not make it the highest-paid role in every job or in every part of the area.
The list keeps each official SOC title tied to its own wage row. It does not blend fields, levels, or job posts. A role median can be above the $46,270 all-occupations median even when the role has few jobs. A large role can sit below that mark. Pay and job count answer different questions.
Use a role's own WageScope page before you compare places. That page shows the national spread, the same SOC code across areas, and the source limits. The area list is a starting map. It is not enough to set a pay target for one person or one listing.
1. General and Operations Managers has a published median of $130,410 per year in Rapid City, SD. BLS lists 700 jobs. Its local share is 0.42 times the national share.
2. Management Analysts has a published median of $92,710 per year in Rapid City, SD. BLS lists 510 jobs. Its local share is 1.2 times the national share.
3. Registered Nurses has a published median of $79,380 per year in Rapid City, SD. BLS lists 2,480 jobs. Its local share is 1.55 times the national share.
Local share
Roles with a larger local share in Rapid City, SD
Location quotient compares a role's share of jobs in Rapid City, SD with that role's share across the nation. A value of 1 means the shares match. A value above 1 means the role takes a larger share of local jobs. A value below 1 means the share is smaller. The value does not show growth or open jobs.
Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks has the highest published location quotient in this bounded set, at 4.57. The same row has 570 jobs and a median of $30,340 per year. Read all three fields together.
A high share can appear in a small job base. A large job count can appear with a share near 1. A high median can appear in either case. The three measures are not a single score. They help you ask three clear questions: how many jobs, how common the role is in the local mix, and what wage BLS published.
1. Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks has a location quotient of 4.57 in Rapid City, SD. BLS lists 570 jobs and a median of $30,340 per year.
2. Receptionists and Information Clerks has a location quotient of 2.87 in Rapid City, SD. BLS lists 1,240 jobs and a median of $37,990 per year.
3. Carpenters has a location quotient of 2.73 in Rapid City, SD. BLS lists 870 jobs and a median of $48,640 per year.
Separate price view
What the BEA price level adds for Rapid City, SD
BEA's 2024 all-items price index for Rapid City, SD is 89.2. The U.S. level is 100. The local all-items level is 10.8% below that mark. This is a broad price comparison. It is not a personal budget.
The housing index is 72.6. The goods index is 95.5. Utilities are 79.1. Other services are 91.9. These parts can move in different ways. The all-items number joins them with BEA's method; WageScope does not pick its own weights.
The BLS wage period is May 2025. The BEA price period is 2024. WageScope shows both dates because the clocks differ. It can divide a wage by the all-items index for a clear national-price-dollar proxy. It does not call that result take-home pay, spending power for one home, or a place score.
The all-occupations employment RSE for Rapid City, SD is 0.1%. The mean-wage RSE is 0.4%. RSE means relative standard error. It is a survey precision flag. A smaller value often means less sampling uncertainty. It is not an error bar for one person's wage.
The employment RSE belongs to the 73,820 job estimate. The mean-wage RSE belongs to the all-occupations mean. WageScope does not attach either field to a detailed role, the median, or a percentile. Each role row has its own published care marks when BLS supplies them.
Some BLS values are blank or top coded. Blank does not mean zero. A top code means the value is at least the shown bound. WageScope keeps those states in the role pages and tables. It does not fill a missing value from a peer role, past year, or nearby place.
Use Rapid City, SD as a map, then choose one occupation
Start with the role that matches the work you mean. Official titles can sound broad. Open the role page and check its SOC code. Then compare the Rapid City, SD row with the U.S. row on the same annual or hourly metric. Read the job count and location quotient beside the wage. Add the BEA price level only when the exact row is present.
Next, look at the wage spread. The median shows the middle. The 10th, 25th, 75th, and 90th percentiles show more of the range. A posted job range can be compared with those marks as context, but it stays employer evidence. It never becomes part of the BLS estimate.
If the role-place row is missing, use the national role page or choose another official area. Do not guess. A clean missing state is more useful than a made-up number. It tells you what the source can and cannot answer.
Move from Rapid City, SD wage data to one checked job
The area page does not treat every local job as the same. Choose an occupation first. WageScope can then use a strict employer-title match for that role. A place filter is used only when the BLS area has an exact approved match in the public place list. If that match is not safe, the page says so.
Each shown job keeps the employer, place, source, and seen date. The cards can change as the public catalog changes. They do not count toward this page's stable content gate. They do not change Rapid City, SD's $46,270 all-occupations median. They do not prove that the employer uses the BLS title.
Open a listing before you tailor. Use facts from your own work that you can support. A wage value is not a skill, result, or duty. MeritLog can help shape confirmed work for the listing you chose. The public area page does not save the role, listing, place, or résumé on load.
The page does not say what one person in Rapid City, SD earns. It does not promise a wage, job, move, or result. It does not call the all-occupations median a role wage. It does not turn rank 263 of 393 into a place score. It does not say why wages differ.
The BLS job count leaves out people who work for themselves and other work outside the survey scope. The current job cards are a separate set of public listings. Neither source shows all work. Neither source tells you the chance of getting hired. A missing value stays missing.
Use the page for a narrow task. See the May 2025 local wage picture. Choose one official occupation. Compare the same field across like places. Add the separate 2024 price level when it exists. Read a current employer-title match. Then make a résumé choice from work facts you have confirmed.
No. BLS wage estimates are nominal. Where an exact BEA Regional Price Parity row exists, WageScope shows that price-level context separately and labels its source period.
Are MeritLog job listings part of the government wage estimate?
No. Eligible live listings remain separate from BLS statistics. Their locations and posted pay do not change the official area or occupation rows.
4. Cashiers has 1,980 estimated jobs in Rapid City, SD. Its published median is $30,460 per year. Its location quotient is 1.35.
5. Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks has 1,720 estimated jobs in Rapid City, SD. Its published median is $46,810 per year. Its location quotient is 2.64.
6. Stockers and Order Fillers has 1,580 estimated jobs in Rapid City, SD. Its published median is $37,150 per year. Its location quotient is 1.18.
7. Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners has 1,520 estimated jobs in Rapid City, SD. Its published median is $34,880 per year. Its location quotient is 1.45.
8. Waiters and Waitresses has 1,430 estimated jobs in Rapid City, SD. Its published median is $29,020 per year. Its location quotient is 1.32.
4. Accountants and Auditors has a published median of $79,270 per year in Rapid City, SD. BLS lists 840 jobs. Its local share is 1.22 times the national share.
5. Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products has a published median of $78,280 per year in Rapid City, SD. BLS lists 780 jobs. Its local share is 1.33 times the national share.
6. Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education has a published median of $59,480 per year in Rapid City, SD. BLS lists 530 jobs. Its local share is 0.8 times the national share.
7. Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers has a published median of $59,110 per year in Rapid City, SD. BLS lists 740 jobs. Its local share is 0.76 times the national share.
8. First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers has a published median of $56,330 per year in Rapid City, SD. BLS lists 670 jobs. Its local share is 1.26 times the national share.
4. Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks has a location quotient of 2.64 in Rapid City, SD. BLS lists 1,720 jobs and a median of $46,810 per year.
5. Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners has a location quotient of 1.98 in Rapid City, SD. BLS lists 810 jobs and a median of $29,210 per year.
6. Bartenders has a location quotient of 1.95 in Rapid City, SD. BLS lists 700 jobs and a median of $29,500 per year.
7. Nursing Assistants has a location quotient of 1.86 in Rapid City, SD. BLS lists 1,280 jobs and a median of $38,500 per year.
8. Light Truck Drivers has a location quotient of 1.71 in Rapid City, SD. BLS lists 800 jobs and a median of $43,250 per year.
Local job matching is not ready for Rapid City, SD.
We did not fill this page with jobs from other places. Search all Retail Salespersons jobs, then check each listing's location before you tailor your resume.
