Accountants and Auditors Average Salary in South Dakota
$85,030 average · $85,030 median · BLS OEWS 2025
SOC Code: 13-2011What is this?
This page shows employer-reported wages for Accountants and Auditors in South Dakota, drawn from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS survey — median and mean pay, the full percentile distribution, and the industries that employ this occupation locally. Industry choice is the dominant pay lever: the same analyst role pays substantially more in finance, tech, or energy than in education, nonprofits, or local government. Professional credentials (CPA, PHR, PMP, CFA) reliably move workers from the median toward the 75th percentile because they are contractually required for certain work, not merely decorative.
How much do Accountants and Auditors make in South Dakota?
The average accountants and auditors salary in South Dakota is $85,030 per year. That works out to about $40.88 per hour on average. BLS counts roughly 5,820 accountants and auditors jobs in South Dakota.
Mean and median are close, so pay is relatively concentrated around $85,030. Entry-level roles (10th percentile) report about $85,030; experienced workers at the 90th percentile report about $85,030 — a 0% spread from bottom to top. Figures are employer-reported wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — not self-reported survey averages — so they are the right baseline for offers, raises, and relocation decisions in this market.
How Business and Financial Operations Careers Are Structured
Business and financial operations specialists — analysts, accountants, HR specialists, buyers, project managers — form the professional middle layer of nearly every industry. The work is office-based and increasingly remote-friendly, which means the geographic wage gaps shown in this data are gradually being arbitraged by remote hiring in ways the survey is only beginning to reflect.
The wage tables and percentile chart on this page show how accountants and auditors pay is distributed in South Dakota specifically — and because state-level wages for the same occupation routinely differ by 30% or more, the local figures here are the ones that matter for offers, raises, and relocation decisions in this market.
What Moves Pay in This Field
Industry choice is the dominant pay lever: the same analyst role pays substantially more in finance, tech, or energy than in education, nonprofits, or local government. Professional credentials (CPA, PHR, PMP, CFA) reliably move workers from the median toward the 75th percentile because they are contractually required for certain work, not merely decorative.
Entry typically requires a bachelor's degree, but the field is unusually open to career-changers because the core skills — analysis, communication, process discipline — transfer across industries. Early-career workers should weight employers by what they teach: two years in a rigorous environment moves you up this distribution faster than five in a lax one.
New to reading wage distributions? Our guide to salary percentiles explains how to place yourself on the chart above, and the negotiation playbook shows how to use these numbers in an actual conversation.
High Demand OccupationBright Outlook
Accountants and Auditors is in high demand with strong job growth projected over the next decade.
What Do Accountants and Auditors Do?
Accountants and Auditors positions belong to the business and financial operations field. Business and financial operations specialists — analysts, accountants, HR specialists, buyers, project managers — form the professional middle layer of nearly every industry. The work is office-based and increasingly remote-friendly, which means the geographic wage gaps shown in this data are gradually being arbitraged by remote hiring in ways the survey is only beginning to reflect.
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) Code: 13-2011
Accountants and Auditors pay in South Dakota
In South Dakota, accountants and auditors report a median of $85,030 (about $40.88/hour) across roughly 5,820 jobs. The local pay band runs from about $85,030 at the 10th percentile to $85,030 at the 90th.
Compared with the national distribution, local industry mix and cost of living are the main reasons South Dakota wages for this occupation sit where they do — toggle Regional Price Parity on this page to see purchasing-power-adjusted pay.
What your paycheck is really worth in South Dakota
Prices in South Dakota run 11% below the national average (RPP 88.6). So a nominal salary of $85,030 has the buying power of about $95,986 in national terms.
South Dakota vs. United States for Accountants and Auditors
The median accountants and auditors salary in South Dakota is $85,030, which is -10.7% below the national median of $95,250 (mean pay is -9.9% below the U.S. mean of $94,419). Among 51 states and D.C. with OEWS data, South Dakota ranks #33 by median wage for this occupation. South Dakota accounts for about 0.1% of U.S. accountants and auditors employment in the latest OEWS release.
See every state ranked for this occupation on the best-paying states page, or compare purchasing power on real wages.
Income reality check
The median salary for Accountants and Auditors in South Dakota of $85,030 falls in the Comfortable band of this framework - roughly ~12% of the U.S. population and ~7% of the global population sit in this band.
Illustrative relative standing for education only - this ladder is a simplified framework, not an official Census, BLS, or World Bank statistical series. Salary figures on Wage Atlas come from official BLS OEWS data.
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Occupation Report Card
Job Outlook 2023-2033
Official BLS Employment Projections for Accountants and Auditors
Skills & What You Do
Most occupations require a bachelor's degree
- Prepare and examine financial records
- Ensure taxes are paid on time
- Assess financial operations
- Recommend cost reductions
Top Industries for Accountants and Auditors
| $100,150 | $93,290 | $48 | 119,450 | |
| $97,900 | $91,940 | $47 | 210,240 | |
| $97,575 | $83,715 | $47 | 1,278,560 | |
| $90,106 | $82,824 | $43 | 390,590 |
Related Occupations
SOC: 13-1111 • 81% match | $112,617 | $113,790 | $54 | 4,824,600 |
SOC: 25-1054 • 76% match | $111,277 | $111,460 | $54 | 100,410 |
SOC: 29-1141 • 76% match | $101,837 | $101,600 | $49 | 21,900,490 |
SOC: 41-4012 • 84% match | $82,508 | $82,530 | $40 | 6,224,740 |
| Find Occupation 41 4012 Jobs | ||||
SOC: 25-2021 • 76% match | $72,861 | $72,710 | $35 | 10,929,790 |
SOC: 53-3032 • 83% match | $59,706 | $59,710 | $29 | 10,380,020 |
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Viewing: Accountants and Auditors (SOC: 13-2011)