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Reference · State of South Dakota

South Dakota trade labor costs

What a plumbing, HVAC or electrical tech earns in South Dakota, what the state adds to payroll, whether labor is taxed, what a license costs, how lien rights work and when the heating and cooling seasons peak — each figure from the agency that sets it, with the date we read it.

  • Wages BLS OEWS May 2025
  • Payroll and licenses state agencies
  • Checked and
Plumbing median
$24.82/h−19.1% vs the U.S.50th of 51
HVAC median
$29.51/h+0.6% vs the U.S.24th of 51
Electrical median
$29.51/h−2.9% vs the U.S.36th of 51
New-employer SUTA
1.20%on the first $15,000
Payroll programs
Noneno paid-leave or disability program found
Sales tax on labor
Taxedrepair and installation on buildings

Pay in South Dakota

Hourly pay across all industries, May 2025. Half of the workers in each trade earn less than the median and half earn more; one in ten earns less than the 10th percentile. Union and non-union, no self-employed.

Hourly pay, 10th to 90th percentileDrawn to scale: one dollar axis for all three trades

  • PlumbingU.S. median $30.67

    plumbers: 10th percentile $18.86, 25th $22.18, median $24.82, 75th $29.83, 90th $35.81 an hour; U.S. median $30.67.

  • HVACU.S. median $29.33

    HVAC techs: 10th percentile $23.28, 25th $24.75, median $29.51, 75th $31.70, 90th $36.15 an hour; U.S. median $29.33.

  • ElectricalU.S. median $30.38

    electricians: 10th percentile $21.31, 25th $23.87, median $29.51, 75th $34.83, 90th $38.49 an hour; U.S. median $30.38.

  • 25th–75th percentile
  • State median
  • U.S. median
Hourly pay by percentile for plumbers, HVAC techs and electricians in South Dakota, BLS OEWS May 2025
PercentilePlumbingHVACElectrical
10th$18.86$23.28$21.31
25th$22.18$24.75$23.87
Median$24.82$29.51$29.51
75th$29.83$31.70$34.83
90th$35.81$36.15$38.49
Mean$26.70$29.37$29.80
U.S. median$30.67$29.33$30.38
vs U.S.−19.1%+0.6%−2.9%
Rank50th24th36th
Jobs1,7601,6102,980

Dollars an hour. BLS occupations: Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters (SOC 47-2152); Heating, air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics and installers (SOC 49-9021); Electricians (SOC 47-2111). “vs U.S.” compares the medians; rank 1 is the highest median of the 50 states and DC. Released May 15, 2026; the next survey is due each spring.

Payroll costs the state adds

What South Dakota charges an employer on top of wages: unemployment tax, and any paid-leave or disability program funded through payroll, and who must carry workers’ comp. Federal Social Security, Medicare and unemployment tax apply in every state and are already in the calculator. Workers’ comp premiums depend on the class code and the insurer, so the card gives the rules, not a rate.

State unemployment tax (SUTA)

South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation, Reemployment Assistance Division (Tax Unit)

Wage base
$15,000 per employee a year
New-employer rate
1.20%
Construction
6.00%for new construction employers

South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation: non-construction 1.20% in year 1, then 1.00% in years 2–3; construction 6.00% in year 1, then 3.00% in years 2–3 (the lower year 2–3 rates require a positive account balance). Both pay an extra 0.55% investment fee. The rate table is undated; the same page gives the 2026 wage base.

Charged with it

Per tech, a year 6.00% × $15,000 = $900With the investment fee billed on top: (6.00% + 0.55%) × $15,000 = $983At the construction rate, for a plumber paid the state median ($24.82 × 2,080 h = $51,626). The calculator uses the rate alone.

State pages read

Workers’ compensation

South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, Division of Labor and Management (Workers' Compensation)

Who must carry it
Not required by lawSouth Dakota’s Workers’ Compensation Law covers all employers with limited exceptions, but no law requires an employer to buy workers’ comp insurance. An employer that does not insure or qualify to self-insure is deemed to have elected not to operate under the law (SDCL 62-5-7), and an injured employee may then sue in court for damages or proceed in circuit court for workers’ comp benefits with all compensation other than medical doubled (SDCL 62-3-11). dlr.sd.gov · sdlegislature.gov
Where to buy it
Private insurersAn employer that covers its workers insures with any stock company or mutual employers’ liability association authorized to write workers’ comp in South Dakota, or with a reciprocal insurance exchange, or qualifies as a self-insurer (SDCL 62-5-1, 62-5-2, 62-5-5). sdlegislature.gov
Owners
An owner who works in the business is covered only by buying a policy that covers himself or herself, and is then treated as an employee (SDCL 62-1-3, 58-20-3). A corporate executive officer can reject coverage by serving written notice on the corporation, in person or by certified mail, at the time of election or appointment or more than 30 days before an injury (SDCL 62-3-5.1). sdlegislature.gov
Construction
A principal, intermediate or subcontractor is liable for compensation to an injured employee of any subcontractor working on the contract, to the same extent as the immediate employer, when the injury happens on premises where the principal contractor is doing the work or that it controls (SDCL 62-3-10). An independent contractor working for a general contractor can sign a notarized Affidavit of Exempt Status (Division of Insurance form) that creates a rebuttable presumption the contractor is not an employee; knowingly giving false information is a Class 2 misdemeanor (SDCL 62-1-20). sdlegislature.gov

Statute and agency pages read

Paid leave and disability insurance

We found no state paid family and medical leave or temporary disability insurance program funded through payroll in South Dakota on October 28, 2026. State paid sick leave rules, where they exist, are not covered here.

New-employer rates usually last one to three years — longer in some states (four years in Indiana, four to five in D.C.); then the state assigns your own rate, and your rate notice wins over any figure here. The calculator below uses the construction rate where one is clear. Where a state’s own pages could not be read, the card says so and gives the U.S. Labor Department’s figure.

What a shop in South Dakota needs to charge

The calculator’s example shop — three techs, $120,000 of overhead, a truck each, 10% net profit — with South Dakota’s median wage for each trade and its unemployment tax filled in. Your own numbers will differ; change them in the calculator below.

Example shopBreak-evenRate, 10% profit
Plumbingwage $24.82$100.66$111.85→ $115
HVACwage $29.51$110.73$123.03→ $125
Electricalwage $29.51$110.73$123.03→ $125

Per billable hour; → is the rate rounded up, as the calculator rounds it. Everything except the wage and the unemployment tax is the national example (BLS, IRS and DOL figures listed on the labor rate calculator).

Change the numbers for your shop

The labor rate calculator, opened on South Dakota: pick your trade, put in your own crew, pay and overhead, and the rate and break-even redraw as you type.

Your labor rate

Who does the billable work?

Example shop in South Dakota: 3 techs at the state’s median plumber wage, $120,000 overhead. Change any number or pick another state.

Charge at least Example shop · South Dakota

Charge at least $111.85 per billable hour; break-even $100.66.

Round up to $115 (+$3.15)

See it drawn to scale
Rate build-upDrawn to scale: every dollar the same height
Rate build-up for the example, drawn to scaleColumn from $0 to $111.85 per billable hour, drawn to scale: wage $42.43, taxes & benefits $11.62, overhead $32.87, truck $13.74, profit 10% $11.18. Break-even line at $100.66. Rounded up to $115.12345$0Labor$54.05Break-even$100.66Your rate$111.85Round up to$115
  1. Wage$51,625.60 ÷ 1,216.8 h$42.43
  2. Taxes & benefits27.39% of pay$11.62
  3. Overhead$120,000 ÷ 3,650.4 h$32.87
  4. Truck$16,719.14 ÷ 1,216.8 h$13.74
  5. Profit 10%of the price$11.18
Break-even
$100.66
Profit per hour
$11.18
Revenue a year
$408,291

$100.66 ÷ (1 − 10%) = $111.85rounded up to $115

Already showing the example.

Price your tasks at $115 an hourOpens the price book builder with this rate.

Billable hours
1,216.8per tech a year
Loaded wage
$31.62per paid hour
Labor
$54.05per billable hour
Overhead
$32.87per billable hour
Truck
$13.74per billable hour
Labor burden
27.39%over gross pay

What moves your rate

  • Every billable hour sold under $100.66 loses money.
  • At 70% billable instead of 65%, break-even drops to $93.47, $7.19 an hour less.
  • Cut $10,000 of overhead a year and break-even drops $2.74 an hour, to $97.92.
Show the math
  1. Worked hours2,080 h − 26 days × 8 h = 1,872 h
  2. Billable hours per tech1,872 h × 65% = 1,216.8 h
  3. Gross pay per tech$24.82 × 2,080 h = $51,625.60
  4. Employer taxes and comp$3,200.79 SS + $748.57 Medicare + $42.00 FUTA + $900.00 SUTA + $1,378.40 comp = $6,269.76
  5. Benefits$51,625.60 × 15.25% = $7,872.90
  6. Labor per billable hour$65,768.27 ÷ 1,216.8 h = $54.05
  7. Overhead per billable hour$120,000 ÷ (3 × 1,216.8 h) = $32.87
  8. Truck per billable hour$16,719.14 ÷ 1,216.8 h = $13.74
  9. Break-even$54.05 + $32.87 + $13.74 = $100.66
  10. Rate at 10% profit$100.66 ÷ (1 − 10%) = $111.85

Change the numbers

State and trade
Trade

Fills the wage and state unemployment tax (SUTA). Workers’ comp and everything else stay as they are.

Filled for South Dakota3 figures
Wage Plumbing
$24.82/hr
South Dakota median for plumbers · BLS OEWS May 2025
SUTA rate Construction
6.00%
Construction rate; other new employers pay 1.20% · SD DLR, first year
SUTA wage base Per tech
$15,000
South Dakota · DOL Significant Provisions, July 2026

Your own rate notice wins. These are new-employer rates: after one to three years the state sets your own, and construction employers often pay a different rate.

South Dakota: pay, payroll taxes and licensesSee all 50 states and DC
South Dakota: the fine print

South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation: non-construction 1.20% in year 1, then 1.00% in years 2–3; construction 6.00% in year 1, then 3.00% in years 2–3 (the lower year 2–3 rates require a positive account balance). Both pay an extra 0.55% investment fee. The rate table is undated; the same page gives the 2026 wage base.

Crew and pay

People who bill hours. Office staff go in overhead.

Average base pay. Filled: South Dakota median for plumbers, BLS OEWS May 2025.

Hours and time off2,080 h · 26 days off

40 hours × 52 weeks = 2,080.

Holidays, vacation and sick days, 8 h each. Example: 8 + 11 + 7 (BLS).

Optional. Paid at 1.5 × the wage. Leave 0 if none.

Billable time

Share of worked hours that ends up on invoices. Published figures run from 30% to 65%.

Billable hours1,216.8 hper tech · 3,650.4 h for the shop
Payroll taxes and benefits+27.39% of pay

Filled: South Dakota construction rate, SD DLR, first year. Your notice wins.

Pay per tech the rate applies to. Filled: South Dakota, DOL Significant Provisions, July 2026.

Use the rate on your policy. Example: BLS construction average.

Health, retirement and other benefits. Example: BLS construction average.

Loaded wage$31.62per paid hour · burden 27.39%

Included automatically (IRS, tax year 2026): Social Security 6.2% of pay up to $184,500, Medicare 1.45%, federal unemployment (FUTA) 0.6% of the first $7,000.

Shop costs

An example figure. Everything except field pay and trucks — split it in the worksheet below.

Payments, fuel, insurance and upkeep. Enter 0 if trucks are already in overhead.

Profit

Profit as a share of the price, not a markup on cost.

Your rate: $111.85 per billable hour · break-even $100.66. Back to the result

Sales tax on your work

What South Dakota’s tax agency says about repair and installation labor on buildings and the parts and fixtures that go into them. This is what the agency’s pages say, not tax advice.

Labor
TaxedA 2% contractor’s excise tax applies to prime contractors’ gross receipts from construction and realty improvement work, installing or repairing fixtures to real property included, and it can be listed on the customer’s bill.Cleaning and adjustments without repairing or replacing parts are subject to sales tax instead: cleaning a furnace and changing its filter is sales-taxable; replacing the furnace motor falls under the excise tax.
Materials
Contractor, when buyingContractors pay sales or use tax on all materials they install and on their tools and supplies; a markup on materials isn’t subject to sales or use tax.

Read October 24, 2026 on the agency pages listed under Sources. All 50 states and DC side by side.

Licenses and state fees

The license a shop needs from the state to contract for each trade, the board that issues it and the fees on its own schedule. Cities and counties can add their own licenses, registrations and permit fees; exam vendors and fingerprinting may charge more.

Plumbing

State license; local rules may add more

South Dakota Plumbing Commission (South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation)

Plumbing Contractor license

No one may do licensed plumbing on property connected to a public water or sewer system unless licensed by the commission (SDCL 36-25-17); plumbing contractors are those registered to contract for plumbing and conduct the business (SDCL 36-25-1).

FeeAmount
Plumbing contractor application fee (non-refundable)one-time$50
Plumbing contractor examination feeper exam or re-exam$100
Plumbing contractor initial license and annual renewal feeper year (expires December 31)$275

Rule 20:53:12 (effective July 2, 2025) sets the initial license fee and annual renewal fee at the same amount. Reinstating an expired plumbing contractor license costs $425. Four hours of continuing education are required for renewal.

Keeping the license

Renewal
Plumbing contractor and plumber licenses from the South Dakota Plumbing Commission expire every year on December 31 (SDCL 36-25-19.4); the commission no longer allows a grace month, and an expired license may be renewed up to six months later with extra fees. sdlegislature.gov · dlr.sd.gov
Continuing ed.
Plumbing contractors, restricted plumbing contractors, plumbers, restricted plumbers and third-year apprentices must complete at least 4 hours of plumbing continuing education during the previous calendar year before each annual renewal, and 2 of the 4 hours must cover code (SDCL 36-25-32). dlr.sd.gov
Reciprocity
The Plumbing Commission has no named list of reciprocal states: it may license a nonresident without exam if the applicant was licensed by exam in a state whose plumber regulation it finds substantially equivalent (SDCL 36-25-21, amended 2025; ARSD 20:53:02:21). Reciprocity applicants must also complete 4 hours of continuing education before the license is issued. sdlegislature.gov · dlr.sd.gov

Sources read

HVAC

Check with the state

We found no state license for this trade in South Dakota, and no official page saying it is licensed only locally. Check with your city or county building department.

No state HVAC license fees found.

Electrical

State license

South Dakota Electrical Commission (South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation)

Electrical Contractor license

Anyone engaged or offering to engage in business as an electrical contractor must obtain a license from the State Electrical Commission (SDCL 36-16-1); only an electrical contractor may contract to install wiring (limited Class B exception).

FeeAmount
Electrical contractor application/exam feeper application$60
Electrical contractor license feeuntil June 30 of the next even-numbered year (all licenses expire then)$200
Electrical contractor biennial renewal (statutory maximum)2 years$200

Application form REV 10/2025 lists $60 application/exam fee and $200 license fee for an electrical contractor; SDCL 36-16-17 caps the biennial license/renewal fee at $200. Contractors must also file a $10,000 undertaking and liability insurance and a $50 deposit at issuance and each biennial renewal (SDCL 36-16-20).

Keeping the license

Renewal
Electrical licenses from the South Dakota Electrical Commission run for two years and expire June 30 of each even-numbered year (SDCL 36-16-25); renewal requires the fee, a valid liability insurance policy and the fund deposit. sdlegislature.gov
Continuing ed.
Electrical licensees must earn 16 hours of continuing education each two-year license period, by renewal or June 30, whichever is sooner; at least 8 hours must be on the National Electrical Code, and no more than 8 hours may be correspondence or online courses. dlr.sd.gov
Reciprocity
The Electrical Commission has reciprocal agreements for a license earned by exam and held active at least one year: contractor/master level with Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma (unlimited), Texas and Wyoming; journeyman only with Alaska, Colorado and New Mexico. dlr.sd.gov

Sources read

Beyond the trade license

Contractor registration, bond and insurance the state asks of a trade shop

Registration
South Dakota has no statewide general or residential contractor license, but every contractor who builds, installs or repairs fixtures to real property, including repair and remodeling, must hold a contractor’s excise tax license from the Department of Revenue (SDCL 10-46A) and write its number on or near each building permit. Prime contractors pay the excise tax on gross receipts; subcontractors working under a prime contractor’s exemption certificate do not. dor.sd.gov
Bond
$10,000An electrical contractor or Class B electrician must deposit a $10,000 undertaking (bond) with the State Electrical Commission before licensing, plus a $50 deposit to the commission’s correction fund (SDCL 36-16-20); a firm’s bond covers its licensed employees. The plumbing law (SDCL ch. 36-25) sets no bond for plumbing contractors. sdlegislature.gov · dlr.sd.gov
Insurance
$100,000An electrical contractor or Class B electrician must keep public liability insurance of at least $100,000 per occurrence and $300,000 aggregate for bodily injury, and property damage coverage of at least $25,000 per occurrence (or a $300,000 combined single limit), with certificates on file at the State Electrical Commission (SDCL 36-16-20). No insurance requirement applies to plumbing licenses under SDCL ch. 36-25. dlr.sd.gov · sdlegislature.gov

Board and statute pages read

State or city license?

State and local Who licenses the trades in South Dakota

The state licenses plumbers (Plumbing Commission) and electricians (Electrical Commission), and state law lets cities add their own plumbing rules and licenses (SDCL 36-25-16) and stricter electrical requirements (SDCL 36-16-35); HVAC is licensed only locally. Sioux Falls, for example, requires its own city licenses for plumbing contractors, journeyman electricians and mechanical (HVAC) contractors. sdlegislature.gov · siouxfalls.gov

State and city pages read

What South Dakota law says about lien rights on private jobs — the notices, the deadline to file and the deadline to sue — and whether a statute sets payment deadlines or caps retainage. Read from the statute itself; it is not legal advice.

Mechanic’s lien

SDCL ch. 44-9Mechanics’ and Materialmen’s Liens

You, hired by the owner
No notice to startSouth Dakota’s chapter 44-9 sets no notice that a contractor in direct contract with the owner must give before or during the job; the contractor may optionally file a notice of project commencement within 30 days of starting work (§ 44-9-50). sdlegislature.gov
Subs and suppliers
Notice requiredOnly if a notice of project commencement was filed (§§ 44-9-50, 44-9-51), a sub-subcontractor or supplier to a subcontractor must mail a notice of furnishing by certified or registered mail to the contractor named in it, with a copy to the owner of record, no later than 60 days after its last work or materials, and attach the mailing receipt to the lien (§ 44-9-53). sdlegislature.gov
File the lien
120 daysFile the lien statement with the county register of deeds within 120 days after your last work or materials, or the lien ends (§ 44-9-15); subs have the same deadline. sdlegislature.gov
Enforce it
6 yearsAssert the lien by complaint or answer within 6 years after the date of the last item in the filed lien statement (§ 44-9-24); if the owner, the owner’s agent or the contractor serves a written demand to sue, you must sue within 30 days or the lien is forfeited (§ 44-9-26). sdlegislature.gov
Homes
A mechanic’s lien does not reach a homestead to the extent the homestead is exempt from levy and sale on execution (§ 44-9-5). sdlegislature.gov

Statutes read

Payment deadlines and retainage

Private jobs (public contracts have their own rules)

Prompt payment
No private-job statuteSouth Dakota’s Prompt Payment Act (SDCL ch. 5-26) applies to state agencies, counties, cities and school districts; no statute sets payment deadlines on private construction jobs. sdlegislature.gov
Retainage
No private-job capNo South Dakota statute caps or times retainage on private construction jobs; the lien chapter and the Prompt Payment Act contain no private-job retainage rule. sdlegislature.gov

Statutes read

Heating and cooling season in South Dakota

Degree days, NOAA’s index of the energy it takes to heat or cool a building: each degree a day’s mean temperature falls below 65 °F is one heating degree day, each degree above is one cooling degree day. Thirty-year normals for Sioux Falls, month by month.

Heating degree days
7,248
Cooling degree days
847
Nights ≤ 32 °F
162
Days ≥ 90 °F
15
Normal heating and cooling degree days (base 65 °F) and freezing nights by month at Sioux Falls, NOAA 1991–2020 normals
MonthHeatingCoolingNights ≤ 32 °F
Jan1,461031
Feb1,195027
Mar942125
Apr538513
May227451
Jun33178–
Jul5294–
Aug12227–
Sep126891
Oct485810
Nov908024
Dec1,317030

Heating carries the load at Sioux Falls: 7,248 heating degree days a year against 847 cooling degree days, peaking in January (1,461).

The lightest months for heating and cooling together are June and September (210 and 215 degree days).

Nights at or below 32 °F: about 162 a year, ten or more a month in October through April; 25 at or below 0 °F. Days reaching 90 °F: about 15 a year, the most in July.

Weighted by where South Dakota’s people live, NOAA’s statewide normals (1981–2010) are 7,466 heating and 673 cooling degree days — 9th for heating and 31st for cooling among the 48 contiguous states (the contiguous U.S.: 4,332 and 1,272).

Station: Sioux Falls (USW00014944), NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 — station file; statewide figures: NOAA Climate Prediction Center. Bars share one scale: the longest is 1,461 degree days. Read .

Sources

Each page opened on the date shown. License, registration, lien and workers’ comp sources are linked beside each fact above. Figures change: the agency’s own page wins over this one.

  1. May 2025 State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates (state file oesm25st)U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · read October 28, 2026
  2. Occupational Employment and Wages — May 2025 (news release USDL-26-0725, May 15, 2026)U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · read October 28, 2026
  3. Public Data API (national OEWS series for the three occupations)U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · read October 28, 2026
  4. Unemployment insurance tax rates (dlr.sd.gov)South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation, Reemployment Assistance Division (Tax Unit) · read October 28, 2026
  5. Significant Provisions of State Unemployment Insurance Laws, Effective July 2026U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Unemployment Insurance · read October 28, 2026
  6. Contractor’s Excise Tax GuideSouth Dakota Department of Revenue · July 2026 · read October 24, 2026
  7. Contractor’s Excise TaxSouth Dakota Department of Revenue · no date shown · read October 24, 2026
  8. SDCL ch. 44-9 — Mechanics’ and Materialmen’s LiensOfficial state code · read November 4, 2026
  9. Workers’ compensation coverage requirementsSouth Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation, Division of Labor and Management (Workers' Compensation) · read November 4, 2026
  10. U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, Sioux Falls (USW00014944)NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · read November 4, 2026
  11. Population-weighted daily heating and cooling degree day normals, 1981–2010 (states and CONUS)NOAA National Weather Service, Climate Prediction Center · read November 4, 2026