Server pay in South Dakota after taxes: what you keep (2026)

The median server in South Dakota earned $29,080 a year in May 2024, which is $14 an hour for a full-time year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Half of the 7,080 servers the BLS counts in South Dakota earned more than that and half earned less; the middle half of them sat between $27,420 and $33,760. That is the gross figure, before anyone takes anything. What you keep depends on South Dakota's tax, and South Dakota has no state income tax on wages.

What the median server keeps in South Dakota

For a single filer on the median $29,080, taking the standard deduction and no other adjustments:

South Dakota takes nothing from wages, so the only deductions are federal. That is worth $1,454 a year against a state with a flat 5% tax on the same salary. Health insurance, retirement contributions and local taxes are not in it either; they vary by employer and by city.

Where South Dakota ranks for server pay

Of the 50 states, South Dakota ranks 30 of 50 on the gross median for servers. The highest-paying state is Vermont at $60,910 and the lowest is Louisiana at $16,880. Gross rank is not take-home rank: a state with no income tax climbs several places once the state line is applied, and a high-tax state drops.

Across the border

The same job in the states next to South Dakota, gross median and estimated take-home for a single filer:

Nebraska leaves a server with more at the end of the year than South Dakota does. North Dakota, Wyoming, Iowa, Minnesota and Montana pay less once tax is counted. Pay is one line; rent is the other, and a higher median in a metro with higher rent can leave you with less.

Where the server jobs are in South Dakota

The BLS count of 7,080 servers is statewide. The metros with the most of that work are Sioux Falls, Rapid City and Aberdeen, which is where the median is set and where the upper quartile ($33,760 and above) is most often paid. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are listed on the South Dakota openings page; those filings are the ones already paying to bring people in, and housing or transport is often part of the offer.

What people get wrong about server pay in South Dakota

• Quoting the mean. The BLS mean for South Dakota is $15 an hour, pulled up by the top earners. The median ($14) is what the typical server makes.
• Comparing gross across states. South Dakota's zero state tax means its gross understates it against taxed states.
• Forgetting the employer's share of insurance. A job that pays $27,080 with full health coverage can beat one that pays $32,080 without it.
• Treating the statewide median as the metro median. Sioux Falls pays differently from a rural county; ask for the figure for the place you are actually going.

Everything about South Dakota, on one page

The South Dakota page has the licence registries and boards, the state tax at three salaries, the programs that pay you to come, and the openings filed in South Dakota this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of South Dakota employers hiring from out of state.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 state estimates for Server. Tax lines are a single filer with the standard deduction, 2024 federal brackets, and the state rate in lib/us-states.ts; progressive states are approximated. Not tax advice.