Marcia Hultman

Cabinet Secretary

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South Dakota e-Labor Bulletin

March 2025

Accommodating Your Sweet Tooth

With Easter around the corner, we bet you’re remembering the marshmallow goodness of those colorful chicks and bunnies. Or maybe jellybean eggs are more your jam. Or are you a ‘chocolate all the way’ Easter candy connoisseur, dreaming of biting off the ear of a big solid chocolate bunny, or maybe devouring a chocolate egg filled with peanut butter yumminess?

Whatever Easter sweet treat fills your dreams, it could all go poof! Your eyes could fly open as you remember where you are. Your lips are numb, and someone’s gloved fingers are in your mouth. You hear the distinctive whine of a drill and smell smoky enamel wafting through the air. Soon, you hear someone say, “Open wide and move your tongue to the right.” Next comes the prompt for small talk—as if you could be understood even if there weren’t fingers and dental instruments in your mouth, given the numbness and sensation your lips and tongue are huge.

Unfortunately, dental work is often the price we pay (literally) for having and giving into the temptation of a sweet tooth. Regularly scheduled maintenance like exams, cleanings, and fluoride treatments may keep the cavities, abscesses, and gum disease at bay. When prevention fails or we fail it, fillings, root canals, and even more extensive treatments may be needed. No one enjoys having dental work done (or paying for it!), but we South Dakotans should be thankful for those who provide dental care when we need it.

There are 311 Dental Offices scattered across South Dakota, based on 2023 annual averages from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program. The industry employs 3,162 workers and pays a total of $224 million in wages. Annual pay averages $70,840.

On the occupational side, it takes more than just dentists to ensure our dental health, of course. The chart below shows the annual average wages of several occupations found in dental offices in South Dakota. We’ve included national wages for comparison. We’ve also included a table showing the detailed data.


2023 Employment Average Wages for Select Occupations in Dental Offices
in South Dakota and the United States
Occupation SOC* Code Annual Average Wage
United States South Dakota
Dentists, General 29-1021 $191,750 $142,830
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons 29-1022 $334,310 $307,030
Orthodontists 29-1023 $243,620 $185,310
Dentists, All Other Specialists 29-1029 $244,470 $220,180
Dental Hygienists 29-1292 $89,890 $81,330
Dental Assistants 31-9091 $47,350 $47,620
Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks 43-3031 $49,580 $41,940
Receptionists and Information Clerks 43-4171 $36,590 $34,300
Dental Laboratory Technicians 51-9081 $52,390 $51,370

Notes:

To learn more about *SOC Codes, please visit the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) website.

Occupational descriptions are available on our Occupational Descriptions page.

The average wage is also known as the mean wage. The mean wage is calculated by dividing the estimated total wages for an occupation by the number of workers in that occupation. For more information on wages, see see our Technical Notes page.

Source: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program, Labor Market Information Center, South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation. Compiled using the Local Employment and Wage Information System (LEWIS) June 2024.

The data shown are 2023 estimates. Check our Occupational Wages menu page later this spring when updated annual occupational wage estimates for South Dakota will be available for these and more than 650 additional occupations.

For More Information

The workforce data incorporated above are just a few examples of the type of industry information available from the Labor Market Information Center. For additional labor market information, contact us.