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South Dakota e-Labor Bulletin

May 2026

New occupational wages on their way

It’s ‘that time’ of year again in South Dakota. Tourism and temps are heating up. Schools are out for the summer. Everywhere you drive seems to be a construction zone. And new occupational wage data will be released from the Labor Market Information Center.

Each year after summer is underway, we release new annual wage data for hundreds of occupations. The data are available from our Occupational Wages menu in the following options:

• in our online data system
• for downloading in Excel or PDF format

Wage data are available for each of the following areas:

• Statewide South Dakota
• Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)
• Rapid City (including Custer, Meade and Pennington counties)
• Sioux Falls (Lincoln, McCook, Minnehaha, and Turner counties of South Dakota; and Rock County of Minnesota)
• Cross-state Sioux City metro area (including Union County, South Dakota plus Woodbury County, Iowa and Dakota County, Nebraska)
• Two Balance of State Areas
• West South Dakota (including all counties except those in the Rapid City MSA)
• East South Dakota (including all counties except those in the Sioux Falls and Sioux City MSAs)

With a few exceptions, both annual and hourly wage estimates are available at the following level of detail:

• Mean/average
• 10th Percentile: 10% earn less than or equal to this amount; 90% earn more
• 25th Percentile: 25% earn less than or equal to this amount; 75% earn more
• 50th Percentile: 50% earn less than or equal to this amount; 50% earn more (median wage)
• 75th Percentile: 75% earn less than or equal to this amount; 25% earn more
• 90th Percentile: 90% earn less than or equal to this amount; 10% earn more

Where the data come from

The source of the annual wage estimates is the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, which we conduct in South Dakota in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The OEWS survey is based on a three-year data collection cycle. Surveys are sent to South Dakota employers twice a year to capture data for second quarter and fourth quarter reference periods. Survey recipients are scientifically selected based on business activity, geographic location, and worker levels. Over the three-year survey cycle, more than 6,000 establishments in the state are contacted. South Dakota continually meets or exceeds the 75% response rate required by BLS.

The website contains combined data from the entire three-year survey cycle. Estimates produced using only one year of sample data would be subject to a higher sampling error (due to the smaller sample size). Estimates based on more than one year of data provide significant sampling error reductions (particularly for small geographic areas and occupations). The multiple years of data also allow us to produce estimates at finer levels of geographic and occupational detail. The wage data from the prior survey panels are adjusted to the current May reference period using a modeling procedure and data from the Employer Cost Index (ECI).

Watch our What’s New page and future editions of the Labor Bulletin for an announcement when the 2025 wage data are available. For more information about the OEWS wage data, please visit our Technical Notes page.

Hoping for more current wage estimates?

In addition to the annual wage estimates produced through the OEWS survey, LMIC also produces quarterly updated occupational wage data. We began this practice several years ago in response to users’ need for more current wage estimates. Those data are available to download in Excel or PDF format from our Occupational Wages menu.

To produce the quarterly-updated wage data, the annual wage estimates from the OEWS program are ‘aged’ to the most current quarter possible based on ECI data and using the Local Employment and Wage Information System (LEWIS). Currently, for example, occupational wage data aged through March 2026 are available (with the 2024 OEWS estimates aged through first quarter 2026). After the 2025 OEWS estimates are finalized and published, the quarterly-updated wage data will reflect the 2025 wage data, aged through the most current quarter possible.

Questions?

If you still have questions about the occupational wage data after visiting our Technical Notes page, please contact us at 605.626.2314. We’re also happy to help if you need assistance choosing the best data set to use or downloading the data needed.