Highest Paying Jobs in South Dakota

Top 100 occupations ranked by median annual salary, Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025

Highest Salary

$586,010

Radiologists

Top 25 Average

$208,577

median salary

$100K+ Jobs

occupations

Occupations

100

with wage data

This ranking surfaces the 100 highest-paying occupations in South Dakota by BLS OEWS state median salary, drawn from the May 2025 release. At the top, Radiologists pays a state median of $586,010, +39% above the national median of $420,860 for the same role. Of the 100 tracked positions, 51 pay above $100,000 per year in South Dakota - a useful threshold for separating specialist professional roles from mid-tier employment. The top-10 average sits at $303,859, giving a sense of what elite specialists inside this state actually clear.

The "Difference" column compares each state median to the corresponding national median for the same SOC code, making pay premiums and discounts immediately visible. In this list, 34 of 100 occupations pay above the national median in South Dakota, which usually signals one of three things: a local concentration of specialized employers (finance hubs, tech clusters, research universities, federal agencies), a cost-of-living adjustment baked into state-wide wage scales, or scarce in-state talent supply bidding up competitive roles. Occupations paying below the national median are not necessarily bad news, they often reflect lower cost of living in the state or industries where South Dakota is not a concentrated employer.

Rankings like this show ceiling-potential by specialty, but they don't tell you the odds of landing one of those roles. Pair this table with the employment column (how many workers the state actually employs in each occupation) and the growth projections on each occupation's national page to see whether the field is expanding or contracting. BLS wages exclude benefits, bonuses, and overtime, especially distorting for top-paying roles where equity and performance compensation can represent 30-50% of total pay. Use this leaderboard to shortlist careers worth exploring in South Dakota, then drill into each row's linked profile to check percentile spread, typical education, metro-level variation, and whether projected openings match your timeline.

#	Occupation	State Median	National	Difference	Employment
1	Radiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$586,010	$420,860	+39% above	70
2	Emergency Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$393,870	$335,550	+17% above	170
3	Obstetricians and Gynecologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$297,610	$292,910	+2% above	80
4	Chief Executives Management Occupations	$280,900	$213,990	+31% above	510
5	General Internal Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$280,520	$256,560	+9% above	160
6	Nurse Anesthetists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$263,930	$236,590	+12% above	400
7	Pediatricians, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$257,610	$210,040	+23% above	80
8	Family Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$239,970	$244,180	2% below	550
9	Psychiatrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$226,180	$281,870	20% below	60
10	Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$211,990	$300,080	29% below	130
11	Marketing Managers Management Occupations	$167,750	$166,790	+1% above	220
12	Architectural and Engineering Managers Management Occupations	$164,330	$171,270	4% below	310
13	Computer and Information Systems Managers Management Occupations	$162,240	$175,140	7% below	380
14	Financial Managers Management Occupations	$159,700	$166,570	4% below	1,000
15	Dentists, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$158,140	$170,950	7% below	390
16	Computer Network Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$153,390	$134,050	+14% above	420
17	Pharmacists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$146,790	$140,910	+4% above	1,280
18	General and Operations Managers Management Occupations	$137,400	$105,770	+30% above	4,280
19	Database Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$136,540	$139,500	2% below	40
20	Sales Managers Management Occupations	$136,360	$148,270	8% below	450
21	Physician Assistants Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$133,200	$135,880	2% below	680
22	Psychologists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$132,170	$110,840	+19% above	30
23	Power Distributors and Dispatchers Production Occupations	$130,270	$106,730	+22% above	30
24	Nurse Practitioners Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$128,840	$132,300	3% below	1,020
25	Personal Financial Advisors Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$128,720	$105,070	+23% above	620
26	Purchasing Managers Management Occupations	$128,670	$148,080	13% below	70
27	Natural Sciences Managers Management Occupations	$128,140	$167,220	23% below	180
28	Education Administrators, Postsecondary Management Occupations	$126,160	$104,590	+21% above	240
29	Training and Development Managers Management Occupations	$124,150	$133,000	7% below	50
30	Medical and Health Services Managers Management Occupations	$122,050	$123,860	1% below	1,140
31	Managers, All Other Management Occupations	$119,470	$141,900	16% below	570
32	Sales Engineers Sales and Related Occupations	$119,110	$124,900	5% below	100
33	Construction Managers Management Occupations	$118,380	$114,990	+3% above	1,070
34	Human Resources Managers Management Occupations	$117,930	$149,280	21% below	420
35	Information Security Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$116,640	$129,180	10% below	770
36	Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers Construction and Extraction Occupations	$116,320	$109,910	+6% above	N/A
37	Engineers, All Other Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$112,260	$122,930	9% below	110
38	Education Administrators, All Other Management Occupations	$108,990	$95,200	+14% above	110
39	Industrial Production Managers Management Occupations	$107,490	$126,060	15% below	720
40	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers Management Occupations	$107,410	$107,230	same as	370
41	Administrative Services Managers Management Occupations	$106,410	$114,130	7% below	450
42	First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers Sales and Related Occupations	$105,680	$87,520	+21% above	680
43	Computer Occupations, All Other Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$105,370	$116,580	10% below	240
44	Architects, Except Landscape and Naval Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$102,500	$99,280	+3% above	180
45	Optometrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$102,320	$136,570	25% below	190
46	Lawyers Legal Occupations	$102,040	$159,670	36% below	1,360
47	Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$101,830	$103,020	1% below	40
48	Gas Plant Operators Production Occupations	$101,450	$87,820	+16% above	90
49	Computer Hardware Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$101,400	$161,740	37% below	160
50	Facilities Managers Management Occupations	$101,280	$106,660	5% below	370
51	Funeral Home Managers Management Occupations	$100,880	$78,790	+28% above	70
52	Computer Systems Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$99,790	$105,850	6% below	1,110
53	Financial and Investment Analysts Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$99,150	$102,740	3% below	820
54	Electrical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$98,980	$120,630	18% below	530
55	Environmental Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$98,890	$107,110	8% below	90
56	Civil Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$98,700	$100,840	2% below	1,440
57	Agricultural Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$98,220	$98,700	same as	110
58	Control and Valve Installers and Repairers, Except Mechanical Door Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$98,090	$74,340	+32% above	150
59	Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$97,700	$109,270	11% below	120
60	Radiation Therapists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$97,470	$105,310	7% below	N/A
61	Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$97,310	$95,320	+2% above	740
62	Software Developers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$96,310	$135,980	29% below	2,380
63	Data Scientists Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$96,150	$120,230	20% below	220
64	Social Workers, All Other Community and Social Service Occupations	$93,760	$71,900	+30% above	130
65	Industrial Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$93,200	$102,440	9% below	830
66	Physical Therapists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$92,660	$102,760	10% below	1,060
67	Dental Hygienists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$92,210	$98,100	6% below	630
68	Postmasters and Mail Superintendents Management Occupations	$91,540	$96,660	5% below	100
69	Audiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$91,190	$95,780	5% below	40
70	Financial Examiners Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$88,690	$94,160	6% below	150
71	Veterinarians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$88,650	$130,100	32% below	280
72	Occupational Health and Safety Specialists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$88,610	$90,150	2% below	250
73	Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary Management Occupations	$88,390	$105,870	17% below	680
74	Mechanical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$88,380	$104,110	15% below	560
75	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives Protective Service Occupations	$87,810	$106,040	17% below	190
76	Social and Community Service Managers Management Occupations	$86,870	$80,390	+8% above	450
77	Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents Sales and Related Occupations	$86,780	$78,660	+10% above	730
78	Financial Specialists, All Other Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$86,260	$81,100	+6% above	90
79	Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$86,260	$101,110	15% below	70
80	Physics Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$86,010	$100,310	14% below	30
81	Economics Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$85,700	$123,920	31% below	40
82	Business Operations Specialists, All Other Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$85,340	$83,050	+3% above	940
83	Occupational Therapists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$85,050	$100,330	15% below	490
84	Electronics Engineers, Except Computer Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$84,150	$130,220	35% below	190
85	Healthcare Diagnosing or Treating Practitioners, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$83,780	$115,210	27% below	60
86	Commercial Pilots Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$83,710	$123,220	32% below	320
87	Management Analysts Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$83,620	$101,860	18% below	2,980
88	Avionics Technicians Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$83,220	$82,280	+1% above	40
89	Insurance Underwriters Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$83,130	$81,370	+2% above	210
90	Physicists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$83,050	$172,250	52% below	30
91	Database Administrators Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$82,540	$104,620	21% below	170
92	Project Management Specialists Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$82,250	$102,320	20% below	1,310
93	Nuclear Medicine Technologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$82,010	$101,370	19% below	140
94	Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$81,080	$79,350	+2% above	40
95	Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$80,890	$103,410	22% below	140
96	Diagnostic Medical Sonographers Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$80,820	$96,590	16% below	370
97	First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations	$80,810	$79,860	+1% above	1,750
98	Orthotists and Prosthetists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$80,760	$81,110	same as	40
99	Clinical and Counseling Psychologists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$80,130	$100,580	20% below	120
100	Logisticians Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$80,020	$82,320	3% below	210

More ways to explore South Dakota pay and compare with national data.

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Radiologists

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About This Data

All salary data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. State-level data reflects wages for workers employed in South Dakota. The "Difference" column shows how South Dakota pay compares to the national median for that occupation.

Every figure on WageDex is rendered directly from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, no number is typed in by an editor. These figures are computed directly from BLS OEWS state-level wage data. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2025.

Compiled by WageDex Editorial, Occupational Wages Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

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