South Dakota · BLS May 2025
BLS records this occupation as “Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education” (SOC 25-2022).
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 2,130 middle school teachers working in South Dakota. Here is what they are paid, what the median leaves after federal and FICA tax, and what that is worth against local prices.
Median pay · South Dakota
$50,980A year. BLS publishes no hourly wage for this occupation.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentileEntry and lowest-paid | $47,000 | Not published |
| 25th percentile | $48,030 | Not published |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $50,980 | Not published |
| 75th percentile | $58,320 | Not published |
| 90th percentileMost experienced and senior | $60,790 | Not published |
| MeanThe average, pulled up by the top | $53,290 | Not published |
Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1
A $50,980 salary in South Dakota, for one single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026.
Prices in South Dakota sit at 88.6 against a national average of 100, so $50,980 earned here buys what $57,549 buys at national average prices.
Common questions
The median wage for middle school teachers in South Dakota is $50,980 a year.
Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.
On the median wage of $50,980, one filer taking the standard deduction keeps about $43,142 a year, or roughly $3,595 a month.
That is after federal and FICA tax, an effective rate of 15.4%.
South Dakota levies no state income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld for it.
No. The median in South Dakota is 20.8% below the national median of $64,370.
Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in South Dakota sit at 88.6 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.
It is 0.68 times the median household income of $75,081. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.
Prices in South Dakota run at 88.6 against a national average of 100, with rents at 67.6, so $50,980 here buys about what $57,549 buys at national average prices.
The top tenth earn $60,790 a year or more, against $47,000 at the bottom tenth.
Experience, specialism, employer and the part of South Dakota someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.
The survey counted 2,130 of these jobs in South Dakota for May 2025.
That makes the occupation 17% more concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.
Sources