How much does a Truck Driver make in South Dakota?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $56,880 for Truck Drivers in South Dakota as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $48,690 and the 75th-percentile is $62,830.

How are South Dakota Truck Driver salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

How wide is the wage spread in South Dakota?

P10 to P90 spans $44,210 to $80,600. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.

Is South Dakota a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Truck Drivers?

Yes — the BEA RPP of 88.1 is below the national 100 baseline, so nominal $56,880 stretches to a real-wage equivalent of $64,527. The take-home advantage versus a higher-RPP state is meaningful for Truck Drivers comparing offers across regions.

What are the limits of these Truck Driver salary numbers?

BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

OTR vs regional vs local truck driver pay in South Dakota?

BLS aggregates Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers (53-3032) into one figure. In South Dakota, OTR (over-the-road, multi-week trips) typically pays the highest gross — $65-90K range with experience — but on a real per-hour basis once away-from-home time is counted, regional (home weekly) and local/dedicated (home daily) routes often net comparable take-home. Local LTL and dedicated-fleet routes in South Dakota frequently pay above the BLS median when union-represented (Teamsters).

South Dakota Truck Driver Salary: BLS $57K Median, Real $65K (2026)

TL;DR

Median Truck Driver salary in South Dakota: $56,880 nominal, $64,527 real (BEA RPP basis).
After the cost-of-living adjustment, take-home rises by $7,647 versus the BLS median — purchasing-power arbitrage.
BLS percentile breakdown: P10 $44,210 · P25 $48,690 · P75 $62,830 · P90 $80,600.
On a real-wage basis, this state sits at #5 of 51; nominal rank is #29.

Wage breakdown — South Dakota

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$44,210	$50,154
P25 (lower quartile)	$48,690	$55,236
P50 (median)	$56,880	$64,527
P75 (upper quartile)	$62,830	$71,277
P90 (top tier)	$80,600	$91,436
Mean	$58,150	$65,968
Employment	5,990 Truck Drivers in South Dakota

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	South Dakota index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	88.1
Goods	97.4
Services	81.3
Rents	64.8

South Dakota sits below the national baseline (RPP 88.1), so nominal pay translates to a higher real wage than the BLS median suggests — particularly visible in rents at 64.8.

After-tax take-home — South Dakota (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Truck Driver)	$56,880	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$4,688	8.2% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	$0	no state income tax
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$4,351	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$47,841	84.1% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$54,273	÷ (88.1 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the South Dakota state-tax burden means for Truck Driver take-home

South Dakota levies no state income tax on wages, which is worth roughly $2,844 a year for a Truck Driver at the BLS median compared with the national-average state burden (≈5%). After the favorable cost of living, real take-home is $54,273 — higher than the nominal after-tax figure because RPP is below 100.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $57,440 for Truck Drivers with mean pay of $58,400 and total employment of 2,070,480. South Dakota sits at #29 on nominal pay and #5 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, South Dakota climbs 24 positions — the cost of living is favorable relative to the wage.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Truck Driver make in South Dakota?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $56,880 for Truck Drivers in South Dakota as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $48,690 and the 75th-percentile is $62,830.
How are South Dakota Truck Driver salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
How wide is the wage spread in South Dakota?: P10 to P90 spans $44,210 to $80,600. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.
Is South Dakota a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Truck Drivers?: Yes — the BEA RPP of 88.1 is below the national 100 baseline, so nominal $56,880 stretches to a real-wage equivalent of $64,527. The take-home advantage versus a higher-RPP state is meaningful for Truck Drivers comparing offers across regions.
What are the limits of these Truck Driver salary numbers?: BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.
OTR vs regional vs local truck driver pay in South Dakota?: BLS aggregates Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers (53-3032) into one figure. In South Dakota, OTR (over-the-road, multi-week trips) typically pays the highest gross — $65-90K range with experience — but on a real per-hour basis once away-from-home time is counted, regional (home weekly) and local/dedicated (home daily) routes often net comparable take-home. Local LTL and dedicated-fleet routes in South Dakota frequently pay above the BLS median when union-represented (Teamsters).

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 53-3032, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how South Dakota Truck Driver pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.