While I’m at it, I should note a few of the other “high-wage” jobs included on South Dakota’s “Hot Careers” website. The South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulation says that “only those occupations with average annual demand of 19 or greater AND an annual average wage of $38,504 or greater are included on the Hot Careers list.” Reaching that wage threshold would require $19.26 an hour, 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year.
- Under Compliance Officers, I find an opening for Driver License Examiner in Aberdeen, posted Friday. Pay is $13.15 an hour, which multiplies to $26,300 a year.
- Under Child, Family, and School Social Workers, we have an opening for Family Advocate in Rosebud. Minimum pay is $14.00 an hour, which multiplies to $28,000 a year.
- Under Elementary School Teachers, you can be a 5th Grade Teacher on Pine Ridge at $33,000 per year or a Substitute Teacher in Fort Pierre for $10 an hour (subbing hours are less: seven hours a day and strictly school year, so even if you sub every day, you’ll probably max out at $12,600).
- Under the really Hot Career of Firefighters, the state is advertising Aircraft (awesome!) Rescue Firefighter in Pierre for $14.11 per hour… but that’s only part-time, so figure at best 20 hours a week… $14,110 a year. The state also lists a Firefighter Paramedic in Aberdeen at $16.30 per hour, or $32,600 a year (we’re getting warmer!)
- Under Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products, Best Buy in Rapid City will pay Sales Specialists and Appliance Sales Specialists $10.50 to $11.50 an hour. Assuming you can cobble together enough hours from the ever-flexing retail shifts, you could make $23,000 a year.
The South Dakota Hot Careers website includes lots of better jobs (Agronomist for Ducks Unlimited would be cool, although the job ends in September 2020). But hey, Pierre! Quality control! We shouldn’t be seeing jobs paying less than the stated “Hot” criterion.
Excellent points! And we had to vote TWICE to get teens the minimum wage of $8.50 per hour. Welcome to South Dakota.
Low wages are common in right to work (for less) states. The war on workers and workers rights has been effectively waged in South Dakota. We really need to connect the dots linking public policy and so-called economic development to the situation we find ourselves in today. Companies are willing to leave rather than increase wages. The labor shortage does nothing to increase pay. And South Dakota’s tax system not only is not doing the job it is unfair.
Pierre is kind of spendy too. https://www.areavibes.com/pierre-sd/cost-of-living/
Tim, where do those companies go to pay lower wages? Overseas?
It is enormously important to note that simple market forces, specifically the labor shortage, does not increase wages in South Dakota. We seem to have recruited and retained enough exploitative Koch-y employers who believe that labor is the enemy, not a partner in creating wealth.
But,but Cory, don’t you know, the cost of living is so much cheaper in South Dakota, so much cheaper! And there’s no income tax either so really those are good paying jobs! Just quit complaining everyone, the cost-of-living is Low, low ,low in South Dakota andthem country boys will survive for they can skin a buck and run a trout line.
Let’s add housing to the mix, in Rapid City there is a housing crisis and a need for a minimum of 1800 low income housing unit.
A problem largely being ignored by city fathers.
Jenny would you agree that housing in the small towns, 5,000 or less, is about the same in MN and SD? Some things are cheaper in MN. Yes there’s an income tax and state services in MN are Much Better. If you have one of those low wage jobs you won’t pay income tax. No tax on food or clothing and you get a rent rebate in August. BOOM.
What??? A rent rebate for the percentage of your rent that pays for the owners property tax? First I’ve heard of that. Outstanding!
Tim, the war on workers is not only being waged in SD. For the remaining states that have a strong union presence (in the public sector), in the Janus decision, the Supreme Court has made the nation “Right to Work” as part of the First Amendment. What could not be accomplished legislatively has come to be through the legislative branch.
Keeping wages low and keeping taxes low is the two-pronged strategy to keep the 1% in obscene wealth. ANYTHING that challenges that wealth is squarely in the crosshairs of the oligarchs who now run America.
When the “industry” of the US became finance, this spiral to the bottom was inevitable. De-valuing production and labor meant devaluing those who produce and labor. Finance devalues people.
I have commented to many SD job services employment agency’s that they should REQUIRE employers to post a salary, or at least a reasonable range, with each and every job they what to post on SD Jobs website. This would save employers a lot of time not having to interview people not interested in low paying jobs and perspective employees would save time not having to fill out applications for jobs that pay below their level of interest. I hate looking at a job thinking, “That would be great! “ until you find out it pays 10.50 per hour. Just require a salary if you want to use “SD Jobs” to find an employee. How hard would that be… seriously?
This state is trying to win the race to the bottom when it comes to wages. Oh the pride employers must have getting hard working midwesters to take a job for little to nothing. “He does such good work, very dependable,…and I don’t have to pay him much at all. What a great state this is to be an employer. “
Great post and good research Corey! Keep up the great job blogging for South Dakota. The PhD in Blogging will be yours soon.
Debbie since I have a house I did not know that Minnesota has a renters refund, I’m not surprised though. How generous of the state of Minnesota to do that. Does South Dakota have a renter refund of any kind? I looked around and didn’t see one. You can certainly tell which state (MN) looks out for it’s working class more.
The Minnesota rent refund is a generous one also. If you rent a house or apartment and make below 59,900 you are eligible for one. And can get up to $2000 in a rent refund.
It would be nice if the state of South Dakota did something like this For its low wage workers. . Probably wouldn’t happen but nice to dream.
Costs of living differences will knock your socks off if you try to compare. I have children living in Massachusetts, Maryland, and South Dakota.
The one in South Dakota has a bigger house, on more land, than the other two could ever imagine owning in Maryland or Massachusetts. The two M states also have state income taxes, high property taxes, and in Maryland, a county income taxes as well.
Auto insurance is also astronomical
In the two M’s.
You can have a much better lifestyle with a lot less money in South Dakota
We’re not talking about East Coast cost-of-living Anne. Of Course it’s going to be more expensive than South Dakota.
Anne needs to talk to one of the thousands of low-wage workers that are trying to get by in South Dakota every day.
Anne is from the Republican Party so she can’t talk about low wages, they don’t do that. They haven’t uttered a word for forty years about wages not keeping up with cost of living. It’s against the pubs to do that.
Just ask a waitress or cook or SD teacher about how ‘fantastic’ their cost of living is inSD, Anne. How they are merrily getting by just wonderfully because everything is pricesd so low inSD and how they they love living in a state famous for its low wages, and as a bonus for living in SD they get a nice generous food tax slapped on them.
Ask them why they work two jobs And I’m sure they’ll just tell you because they love to work, not because they have to. Just stay in your dense clouds Anne. You are never serious about coming on here and debating seriously. You refuse to acknowledge real problems. Yes, it’s nice your kids havedone well in SD but you need to step outside of your family and take a look around.
Anne … Don’t you mean you can have a better lifestyle “for” a lot less money? And, what do you do with that money? Why, you go to the Maryland shore or Boston and vacation. A proper analogy is the high taxes Europeans pay, which includes things Americans pay for individually. At the end of the month, even though Europeans pay about 55% in taxes and Americans pay about 25% Europeans have more money left over for discretionary spending. And, that’s probably the case in Maryland and Mass, too.
The “low cost of living” example excludes this paradigm. When you live with higher wages and higher cost of living you often find things that are priced below what you’d expect, for one reason or another. When you live with low wages and lower cost of living you inevitably and eventually will need to buy something that’s the same price everywhere in USA and your low wages makes it harder to afford. (e.g. An iPhone X costs a thousand bucks in NYC or Sioux Falls. A plane ticket to Paris costs the same in Cali or SD. etc. Now, with internet sales tax, costs will rise in low cost of living places.)
Anne’s kids don’t want to live in SD. With full knowledge of what SD has to offer they left for greener pastures. Why would they give up their high-pay and quality of life to come back here? When it comes time to retire, Anne’s kids living in the M states will be far ahead of the kid who stayed here for the bigger house and low pay. Young people are figuring this out, Anne. Your kids did. Other people’s kids are. SD’s one-party government is in the business of managing decline, and not doing that great at it. Meanwhile the M states are thriving, including our neighbor to the east.
When we moved to Wisconsin in 2001, we nearly doubled our income. We got access to excellent health insurance coverage through our employers, one of whom paid nearly all the premiums. We also had great pension and other retirement benefits, and that is certainly why moving here was the best thing we ever did. Housing costs are higher here, but food is cheaper. If you don’t live in Madison, housing is about the same as SD. Insurance is about the same. Taxes are higher, but we get better services. Overall, I’d say we made out much better economically than had we stayed in South Dakota.
I can echo what Don said about my move to Minnesota. I don’t live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro and I’m doing significantly better than in SD.
It’s kind of funny that Ms. Beale tried to use her children’s moves to Massachusetts and Maryland to tout how wonderful low wage and poor services SD is. Yet, her own children left!!! Didn’t think that one through, did you Annie girl!?! Bwahahahahahahaha!!!!!
@Debbo … Her daughter’s house in ***** South Dakota is 1200 sq. ft and sells for $185,000. So, the kids back east must not have much, either. Just sayin’ that Anne has a habit of exaggerating.
“Finance devalues people,” says O, writing the next great Occupy campaign slogan.
Finance devalues people! Finance devalues people!
True.
I don’t blame people for moving out of a low wage one political party corrupt-infested state like SD. Unless you have inherited a farm or business – get the hell out, and fast!
I tell Minnesotans all the time that South Dakota is corrupt to the core and very ant-LGBT and low wage and anti-Union. I’ve told Minnesotans about how South Dakota likes to pride themselves on being low cost of living and hard working but that they forget to mention their evil food tax, high property taxes and their blatant racism. The Nation knows South Dakota’s dirty little secrets thanks to the Internet these days. You’re not foolin’ anyone.
South Dakota is NOT a “low” cost of living state. It is right about in the middle @#31 of 50.
https://www.missourieconomy.org/indicators/cost_of_living/
SD cost of living is actually slightly HIGHER to Minnesota.