The South Dakota all-occupations median was 7.7% below the U.S. all-occupations median in the same release. Fast Food and Counter Workers had the largest published employment estimate among the 30 occupation rows shown on this hub, at 15,150.
Among those high-employment rows, Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers had the highest published location quotient at 2.66. 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 South Dakota
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.
Fast Food and Counter...: 15,150 jobs. Registered Nurses: 14,710 jobs. Retail Salespersons: 14,180 jobs. Cashiers: 12,860 jobs. Stockers and Order Fi...: 11,460 jobs. Bookkeeping, Accounti...: 10,200 jobs.
BEA's 2024 all-items price index for South Dakota was 88.6, or 11.4% below the national price level. Its housing index was 67.6.
National-price-dollar proxy
$53,146
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 South Dakota; U.S. = 100
U.S. baseline: 100.0. All items: 88.6. Housing: 67.6.
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 46.
Questions, answered
Wage data for South Dakota: common questions
What is the all-occupations median wage in South Dakota?
The May 2025 BLS OEWS release published an all-occupations median of $47,080 per year in South Dakota. 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 South Dakota?
BLS published an all-occupations employment estimate of 457,380 jobs for South Dakota. It is a survey estimate, not a current opening count.
What is the largest detailed occupation shown for South Dakota?
Fast Food and Counter Workers is the largest detailed occupation in the bounded table on this page, with 15,150 estimated jobs and a published median of $29,490 per year.
Does the South Dakota wage data adjust for local prices?
From market data to your evidence
Tailor for a real Fast Food and Counter Workers 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.
The May 2025 BLS OEWS estimate puts the all-occupations median in South Dakota at $47,080 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 457,380 covered jobs in South Dakota. The all-occupations mean is $57,610 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.
South Dakota's $47,080 all-occupations median is 7.7% 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.
Where South Dakota sits among states and territories
South Dakota ranks 43 of 54 among states and territories 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. South Dakota has 457,380 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.
40. Nevada has an all-occupations median of $47,660 per year and 1,551,540 covered jobs. Its wage gap from South Dakota is $580.
41. Tennessee has an all-occupations median of $47,380 per year and 3,278,760 covered jobs. Its wage gap from South Dakota is $300.
42. New Mexico has an all-occupations median of $47,210 per year and 870,970 covered jobs. Its wage gap from South Dakota is $130.
44. Kentucky has an all-occupations median of $46,920 per year and 2,000,360 covered jobs. Its wage gap from South Dakota is $160.
45. South Carolina has an all-occupations median of $46,490 per year and 2,305,080 covered jobs. Its wage gap from South Dakota is $590.
46. Alabama has an all-occupations median of $45,670 per year and 2,113,660 covered jobs. Its wage gap from South Dakota is $1,410.
The largest detailed occupations shown for South Dakota
The role list is sorted by the BLS employment estimate. It shows detailed occupations from the bounded source table for South Dakota. The first row, Fast Food and Counter Workers, has 15,150 estimated jobs. Its median is $29,490 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. Fast Food and Counter Workers has 15,150 estimated jobs in South Dakota. Its published median is $29,490 per year. Its location quotient is 1.34.
2. Registered Nurses has 14,710 estimated jobs in South Dakota. Its published median is $78,060 per year. Its location quotient is 1.48.
3. Retail Salespersons has 14,180 estimated jobs in South Dakota. Its published median is $34,370 per year. Its location quotient is 1.24.
Role pay range
How published medians differ inside South Dakota
The detailed roles shown for South Dakota do not share one pay level. General and Operations Managers has the highest published median in this bounded role set, at $137,400 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 $47,080 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 $137,400 per year in South Dakota. BLS lists 4,280 jobs. Its local share is 0.42 times the national share.
2. Accountants and Auditors has a published median of $78,880 per year in South Dakota. BLS lists 5,820 jobs. Its local share is 1.36 times the national share.
3. Registered Nurses has a published median of $78,060 per year in South Dakota. BLS lists 14,710 jobs. Its local share is 1.48 times the national share.
Local share
Roles with a larger local share in South Dakota
Location quotient compares a role's share of jobs in South Dakota 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.
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers has the highest published location quotient in this bounded set, at 2.66. The same row has 3,250 jobs and a median of $49,440 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. Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers has a location quotient of 2.66 in South Dakota. BLS lists 3,250 jobs and a median of $49,440 per year.
2. Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks has a location quotient of 2.52 in South Dakota. BLS lists 10,200 jobs and a median of $46,340 per year.
3. Carpenters has a location quotient of 2.32 in South Dakota. BLS lists 4,560 jobs and a median of $48,140 per year.
Separate price view
What the BEA price level adds for South Dakota
BEA's 2024 all-items price index for South Dakota is 88.6. The U.S. level is 100. The local all-items level is 11.4% below that mark. This is a broad price comparison. It is not a personal budget.
The housing index is 67.6. The goods index is 95.5. Utilities are 79.7. 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 South Dakota is 0%. The mean-wage RSE is 0.3%. 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 457,380 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 South Dakota 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 South Dakota 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 South Dakota 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 South Dakota's $47,080 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 South Dakota 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 43 of 54 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 12,860 estimated jobs in South Dakota. Its published median is $29,780 per year. Its location quotient is 1.41.
5. Stockers and Order Fillers has 11,460 estimated jobs in South Dakota. Its published median is $37,650 per year. Its location quotient is 1.37.
6. Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks has 10,200 estimated jobs in South Dakota. Its published median is $46,340 per year. Its location quotient is 2.52.
7. Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners has 8,630 estimated jobs in South Dakota. Its published median is $35,480 per year. Its location quotient is 1.33.
8. Waiters and Waitresses has 7,350 estimated jobs in South Dakota. Its published median is $28,990 per year. Its location quotient is 1.1.
4. Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products has a published median of $77,210 per year in South Dakota. BLS lists 5,220 jobs. Its local share is 1.43 times the national share.
5. Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers has a published median of $58,690 per year in South Dakota. BLS lists 6,470 jobs. Its local share is 1.07 times the national share.
6. First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers has a published median of $56,680 per year in South Dakota. BLS lists 3,660 jobs. Its local share is 1.11 times the national share.
7. Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education has a published median of $51,050 per year in South Dakota. BLS lists 3,360 jobs. Its local share is 1.07 times the national share.
8. Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education has a published median of $50,130 per year in South Dakota. BLS lists 4,290 jobs. Its local share is 1.05 times the national share.
Precise employer-title matches for Fast Food and Counter Workers in South Dakota
Filtered through MeritLog's approved South Dakota place record and a strict employer-title rule. Listings are not classified by BLS and remain separate from BLS and BEA estimates.
