How to transfer your Occupational therapist licence to South Dakota (2026)

Occupational therapist work in South Dakota is licensed at state level, by the South Dakota occupational therapy board. This page says what a occupational therapist licensed or working in another state has to do to work in South Dakota, in the order to do it, and what goes wrong when the order is reversed.

How the transfer works

Every state licenses occupational therapists and accepts NBCOT certification for licensure by endorsement. The OT Compact exists in law in many states and is beginning to issue privileges; until South Dakota issues them, apply to the board with NBCOT verification, licence verification and the fee.

Exam: NBCOT.

How long: four to ten weeks. Fee: $75 to $300; the current figure is on the licensing body's own site.

What to have ready before you move

• NBCOT verification
• Licence verification
• Continuing education record

Start the paperwork before you give notice. Every week the licence is not done is a week you are not paid, and nothing in the process needs you to be in South Dakota already.

What people get wrong

• Assuming the OT Compact is live in both states; check the compact commission's map

Who hires occupational therapists in South Dakota

Occupational therapists in South Dakota are hired by schools, hospitals, outpatient paediatrics, home health and skilled nursing. The metros with the most of that work are Sioux Falls, Rapid City and Aberdeen. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are on the South Dakota openings page.

For the money side: the median occupational therapist in South Dakota earned $81,430 a year ($39 an hour) in May 2024 across 520 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and South Dakota has no state income tax on wages. What that leaves you after tax is its own page.

Everything about South Dakota, on one page

The South Dakota page has the registries and boards, the income tax table, the programs that pay you to come and the openings filed 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.