Jobs and pay in South Dakota

The highest-paying occupations in South Dakota

Sorted by median annual wage — the midpoint of what people in the occupation are paid in this state, not what a newcomer earns. Occupations BLS did not release a wage for are absent rather than shown as zero.

4 further occupations are paid more than every figure below, but BLS publishes them only as $239,200 or more, its reporting cap: anesthesiologists, physicians, all other, orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric, surgeons, all other. They cannot be ranked against each other, so they are named here rather than listed as identical rows.

1. Radiologists$586,010
2. Emergency medicine physicians$393,870
3. Obstetricians and gynecologists$297,610
4. Chief executives$280,900
5. General internal medicine physicians$280,520
6. Nurse anesthetists$263,930
7. Pediatricians, general$257,610
8. Family medicine physicians$239,970
9. Psychiatrists$226,180
10. Ophthalmologists, except pediatric$211,990
11. Marketing managers$167,750
12. Architectural and engineering managers$164,330
13. Computer and information systems managers$162,240
14. Financial managers$159,700
15. Dentists, general$158,140
16. Computer network architects$153,390
17. Pharmacists$146,790
18. General and operations managers$137,400
19. Database architects$136,540
20. Sales managers$136,360
21. Physician assistants$133,200
22. Psychologists, all other$132,170
23. Power distributors and dispatchers$130,270
24. Nurse practitioners$128,840
25. Personal financial advisors$128,720

Where the jobs actually are in South Dakota

The same list sorted by how many people are employed in each occupation, which is a different question from what it pays and usually a more useful one. High pay in an occupation employing 400 people statewide is a narrower opportunity than it looks.

1. Fast food and counter workers15,150 employed
2. Registered nurses14,710 employed
3. Retail salespersons14,180 employed
4. Cashiers12,860 employed
5. Stockers and order fillers11,460 employed
6. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks10,200 employed
7. Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners8,630 employed
8. Waiters and waitresses7,350 employed
9. Nursing assistants6,860 employed
10. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers6,470 employed
11. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive6,120 employed
12. Customer service representatives6,120 employed
13. Accountants and auditors5,820 employed
14. Receptionists and information clerks5,760 employed
15. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products5,220 employed
16. Light truck drivers4,820 employed
17. Teaching assistants, except postsecondary4,650 employed
18. Carpenters4,560 employed
19. Elementary school teachers, except special education4,290 employed
20. General and operations managers4,280 employed
21. Home health and personal care aides4,210 employed
22. Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators3,960 employed
23. Bartenders3,930 employed
24. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand3,820 employed
25. First-line supervisors of retail sales workers3,660 employed

The best-paid South Dakota work that typically needs no bachelor's degree

Occupations BLS reports as typically entered with an associate's degree, a postsecondary certificate, some college, a high-school diploma, or no formal credential — sorted by what they pay here. Typical is not a requirement, individual employers set their own, and many of these carry state licensing that the national figure does not capture.

1. Power distributors and dispatchers$130,270 · High school diploma or equivalent
2. Elevator and escalator installers and repairers$116,320 · High school diploma or equivalent
3. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers$107,410 · High school diploma or equivalent
4. First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers$105,680 · High school diploma or equivalent
5. Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay$101,830 · Postsecondary nondegree award
6. Gas plant operators$101,450 · High school diploma or equivalent
7. Funeral home managers$100,880 · Associate's degree
8. Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door$98,090 · High school diploma or equivalent
9. Radiation therapists$97,470 · Associate's degree
10. Electrical power-line installers and repairers$97,310 · High school diploma or equivalent
11. Dental hygienists$92,210 · Associate's degree
12. Postmasters and mail superintendents$91,540 · High school diploma or equivalent
13. First-line supervisors of police and detectives$87,810 · High school diploma or equivalent
14. Commercial pilots$83,710 · Postsecondary nondegree award
15. Avionics technicians$83,220 · Postsecondary nondegree award
16. Nuclear medicine technologists$82,010 · Associate's degree
17. Diagnostic medical sonographers$80,820 · Associate's degree
18. First-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers$80,810 · High school diploma or equivalent
19. Claims adjusters, examiners, and investigators$78,900 · High school diploma or equivalent
20. Detectives and criminal investigators$77,730 · High school diploma or equivalent
21. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers$77,690 · High school diploma or equivalent
22. First-line supervisors of correctional officers$77,400 · High school diploma or equivalent
23. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products$77,210 · High school diploma or equivalent
24. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists$77,010 · Associate's degree
25. First-line supervisors of protective service workers, all other$76,400 · High school diploma or equivalent

A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one. CampusPin publishes the national picture of pay by entry education and which fields are actually awarded as certificates rather than degrees.

What South Dakota does more of than the rest of the country

Location quotient: this occupation's share of South Dakota employment divided by its share of U.S. employment. 2.0 means twice as concentrated here as nationally. It describes where the work IS — not what it pays, and not how easy it is to be hired. Limited to occupations employing at least 500 people in the state, so a tiny base cannot manufacture a large ratio.

Gambling change persons and booth cashiers lead, much more concentrated here than nationally.

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