Rapid City, SD

Across all occupations in the Rapid City, SD metropolitan area, the median wage is $46,270 a year ($22.25 an hour) and the mean $57,850, May 2025. That median is −9% against the US median of $50,980 and −2% against South Dakota's $47,080. BLS counts 73,820 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is chief executives; the largest is retail salespersons.

All occupations: Rapid City, SD vs South Dakota and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Rapid City, SD area, South Dakota and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Rapid City, SD	Hourly	$13.99	$16.79	$22.25	$31.15	$46.95	$27.81	73,820
Rapid City, SD	Annual	$29,100	$34,920	$46,270	$64,780	$97,660	$57,850	73,820
South Dakota	Hourly	$14.09	$17.32	$22.63	$30.78	$45.63	$27.70	457,380
South Dakota	Annual	$29,300	$36,030	$47,080	$64,020	$94,900	$57,610	457,380
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

308 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: South Dakota. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Rapid City, SD

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Chief Executives	$301,420	$144.91	70
2	Family Medicine Physicians	$230,530	$110.83	130
3	Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric	$211,990	$101.92	70
4	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$196,800	$94.62	80
5	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$163,860	$78.78	**
6	Financial Managers in South Dakota	$160,280	$77.06	120
7	Dentists, General	$158,140	$76.03	90
8	Pharmacists	$140,340	$67.47	210
9	Sales Managers	$134,010	$64.43	80
10	Physician Assistants	$130,740	$62.86	150
11	General and Operations Managers in South Dakota	$130,410	$62.70	700
12	Natural Sciences Managers	$129,960	$62.48	30
13	Nurse Practitioners	$124,160	$59.69	190
14	Medical and Health Services Managers	$122,930	$59.10	190
15	Construction Managers	$120,560	$57.96	240
16	Architects, Except Landscape and Naval	$115,600	$55.58	40
17	Managers, All Other	$109,350	$52.57	90
18	Information Security Analysts	$108,030	$51.94	90
19	Administrative Services Managers	$107,200	$51.54	80
20	Human Resources Managers	$105,990	$50.96	40

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Rapid City, SD

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Retail Salespersons in South Dakota	3,090	41.81	1.67	$33,350
2	Fast Food and Counter Workers in South Dakota	2,860	38.69	1.56	$29,440
3	Registered Nurses in South Dakota	2,480	33.65	1.55	$79,380
4	Cashiers in South Dakota	1,980	26.84	1.35	$30,460
5	Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in South Dakota	1,720	23.29	2.64	$46,810
6	Stockers and Order Fillers in South Dakota	1,580	21.44	1.18	$37,150
7	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in South Dakota	1,520	20.59	1.45	$34,880
8	Waiters and Waitresses in South Dakota	1,430	19.32	1.32	$29,020
9	Nursing Assistants in South Dakota	1,280	17.30	1.86	$38,500
10	Receptionists and Information Clerks in South Dakota	1,240	16.81	2.87	$37,990
11	Customer Service Representatives in South Dakota	1,010	13.71	0.82	$38,520
12	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in South Dakota	990	13.36	1.22	$41,720
13	Carpenters in South Dakota	870	11.77	2.73	$48,640
14	Accountants and Auditors in South Dakota	840	11.35	1.22	$79,270
15	Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in South Dakota	810	10.97	1.98	$29,210
16	Light Truck Drivers in South Dakota	800	10.80	1.71	$43,250
17	Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products in South Dakota	780	10.61	1.33	$78,280
18	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in South Dakota	740	10.06	0.76	$59,110
19	General and Operations Managers in South Dakota	700	9.54	0.42	$130,410
19	Bartenders in South Dakota	700	9.48	1.95	$29,500

Most concentrated occupations in Rapid City, SD

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Residential Advisors	10.90	440	5.94	*
2	Forest and Conservation Technicians	7.97	120	1.56	$57,660
3	Cooks, Short Order	6.31	420	5.63	$32,670
4	Structural Iron and Steel Workers	5.15	170	2.27	$49,100
5	Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers	4.77	470	6.32	$48,300
6	Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks	4.57	570	7.68	$30,340
7	Tour and Travel Guides	4.54	120	1.56	$35,490
8	Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing	4.49	130	1.78	$37,920
9	Property Appraisers and Assessors	3.77	100	1.39	$63,900
10	Water and Wastewater Treatment Plant and System Operators	3.18	190	2.63	$57,780

Occupation groups in Rapid City, SD

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$107,400	$125,990	2,850	38.68	0.54
Architecture and Engineering	$84,550	$88,990	1,210	16.39	0.97
Computer and Mathematical	$84,270	$99,140	1,290	17.44	0.52
Legal	$81,490	$94,300	460	6.26	0.75
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$79,380	$103,850	6,270	84.93	1.34
Business and Financial Operations	$77,350	$84,710	4,050	54.81	0.81
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$68,220	$74,680	910	12.38	1.31
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$58,370	$60,030	3,230	43.80	1.12
Protective Service	$56,710	$57,260	1,560	21.15	0.87
Construction and Extraction	$50,650	$54,880	4,940	66.93	1.62
Community and Social Service	$49,920	$54,340	1,560	21.07	1.23
Educational Instruction and Library	$49,920	$51,360	3,150	42.69	0.73
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$47,440	$47,190	170	2.28	0.82
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$44,300	$49,150	770	10.37	0.79
Production	$43,470	$46,350	2,580	34.99	0.64
Office and Administrative Support	$41,760	$43,560	8,710	117.93	1.03
Transportation and Material Moving	$39,540	$44,570	5,320	72.08	0.82
Healthcare Support	$38,700	$41,700	2,810	38.08	0.75
Personal Care and Service	$36,480	$37,980	2,170	29.46	1.41
Sales and Related	$36,130	$48,810	8,170	110.71	1.28
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$33,920	$35,450	3,200	43.39	1.48
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$29,980	$32,630	8,430	114.19	1.30

Every occupation in South Dakota, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 308 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Rapid City, SD estimates (area 39660).

*: Wage estimate not available.
**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Rapid City, SD area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.