Median pay · South Dakota
$54,810A year. BLS publishes no hourly wage for this occupation.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile1 in 10 earn less | $45,610 | Not published |
| 25th percentile | $48,800 | Not published |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $54,810 | Not published |
| 75th percentile | $58,360 | Not published |
| 90th percentile1 in 10 earn more | $63,020 | Not published |
| MeanAll pay divided by all jobs | $54,290 | Not published |
Wage survey · BLS May 2025
How we got this
- Median wage in South DakotaBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of the people in this job were paid more than this, half less.$54,810
- Take-home after federal and FICA tax$3,852 a month at an effective rate of 15.7%.$46,220 a year
- Worth at national average pricesPrices in South Dakota sit at 88.6 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$61,872
- Against the national medianThe national median is $74,260.26.2% below
- Jobs countedA concentration of 1.03 against the nation's 1.00.500
What we assumed
- Wages are BLS OEWS survey estimates for May 2025, not job postings or offers.
- OEWS surveys wage and salary workers. The self-employed and business owners are outside it.
- Take-home assumes one 2026 filer, filing single, taking the standard deduction, with no dependents, pre-tax retirement contributions or local income tax.
- BLS publishes only an annual wage for this occupation, because a standard 2,080-hour year would misdescribe it.
- Regional price parities compare price levels between places in one year. They are not inflation, and they do not adjust for what a household actually buys.
Technical details
Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1
What lands in the bank
Tax year 2026 · InteractiveEstimated on the median salary of $54,810 in South Dakota, for a single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026. Explore other wage levels and filing statuses below.
Run the numbers on your own pay
Same U.S. tax tables as the rest of the site. Change the salary, state, or filing status.
What $54,810 is worth in South Dakota
Prices in South Dakota sit at 88.6 against a national average of 100, so $54,810 earned here buys what $61,872 buys at national average prices.
- Rents. 67.6 against 100, the component that moves most between states.
- Against local households. The median household in South Dakota takes in $75,081, so this occupation's median is 0.73 times that, on one income.
- How common the job is here. 3% more concentrated in South Dakota than in the country as a whole.
Reading the numbers
What stands out for special education teachers in South Dakota
South Dakota ranks 50 of 51 states by median pay for special education teachers, among the lowest-paying in the country.
Rents in South Dakota index at 67.6 (U.S. = 100) while prices overall index at 88.6, a gap of -20.9 pts. For a renter, housing moves the local cost of living more than anything else.
South Dakota does not tax wages, so the take-home figure above loses only federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare.
Prices in South Dakota index at 88.6 (U.S. = 100), so the $54,810 median buys roughly what $61,872 would at national prices, $7,062 more.
Common questions
Special Education Teacher pay in South Dakota, answered
How much does a special education teacher make in South Dakota?
The median wage for special education teachers in South Dakota is $54,810 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.
What is the average special education teacher salary in South Dakota?
BLS’s mean (average) wage for special education teachers in South Dakota is $54,290 a year. The median is $54,810.
The mean sits higher when a smaller group of high earners pulls the average up. For a typical paycheck, the median is the better middle.
What is the starting salary for a special education teacher in South Dakota?
BLS does not publish starting pay. The closest figure it does publish is the low end of the range: in South Dakota, the lowest-paid 10% of special education teachers earn under $45,610 a year and a quarter earn under $48,800.
New hires often start somewhere in that band, but the May 2025 survey does not record experience, so read it as a floor to compare an offer against rather than a typical first salary.
What is the salary range for a special education teacher in South Dakota?
The overall salary range for special education teachers in South Dakota spans from $45,610 for the bottom 10% to $63,020 for top earners.
The middle 50% earn between $48,800 and $58,360 a year, with the overall median at $54,810.
What is the take-home pay for a special education teacher in South Dakota?
On the median wage of $54,810, a single filer taking the 2026 standard deduction keeps an estimated $46,220 a year, or roughly $3,852 a month.
That is after federal and FICA tax, an effective rate of 15.7%.
South Dakota levies no state income tax on wages, so nothing is withheld for it.
How much does a special education teacher make a month in South Dakota?
On the median annual salary of $54,810, estimated take-home pay is roughly $3,852 a month after federal, state, and FICA taxes.
For workers paid on a standard biweekly schedule (26 pay periods per year), each paycheck is approximately $1,778 net.
Do special education teachers earn more in South Dakota than in the rest of the country?
No. The median in South Dakota is 26.2% below the national median of $74,260.
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.
Is $54,810 a good salary in South Dakota?
It is 0.73 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 $54,810 here buys about what $61,872 buys at national average prices.
What do the highest-paid special education teachers earn in South Dakota?
The top tenth earn $63,020 a year or more. The 10th-percentile wage is $45,610.
Experience, specialty, 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.
How many special education teachers are there in South Dakota?
The survey counted 500 of these jobs in South Dakota for May 2025.
That makes the occupation 3% more concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.