- The middle half earn between $14.16 and $17.69 an hour.
- South Dakota ranks 29th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- South Dakota pays more than 1 of its 6 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 1,510 auto detailers on payrolls in South Dakota.
- At the state median wage, a detailing business needs to bill about $100.18 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Auto Detailer pay in South Dakota, bottom to top
BLS has no separate figure for auto detailers. These are its numbers for cleaners of vehicles and equipment, the group that holds auto detailers along with car wash attendants and equipment cleaners.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $13.42 | $27,910 | $13.17 |
| 25th percentile | $14.16 | $29,450 | $14.62 |
| Median | $16.85 | $35,050 | $17.23 |
| 75th percentile | $17.69 | $36,800 | $19.73 |
| 90th percentile | $20.69 | $43,040 | $22.89 |
| Average (mean) | $16.60 | $34,520 | $17.78 |
Pay is bunched up in South Dakota. The top tenth earn $20.69 an hour or more, about 1.5 times the $13.42 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 1.7 times, so the step from the bottom of the scale to the top is shorter here than in most places.
The floor is higher than nationally ($13.42 against $13.17) but the ceiling is lower ($20.69 against $22.89), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average wage ($16.60) is a little under the median, so the low end of the range stretches further than the high end in South Dakota.
How South Dakota compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $35,050 in South Dakota against $35,830 nationally, $780 less.
In the state ranking, South Dakota sits 29th, between Ohio ($16.94) and Arkansas ($16.81). The range runs from $13.27 in Louisiana to $20.53 in the District of Columbia.
Against its neighboring states, South Dakota is in the middle: Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska and North Dakota pay more, and Wyoming pays less.
How many auto detailers work in South Dakota
About 1,510 auto detailers work on payrolls in South Dakota, 0.4% of the 380,430 nationwide, the 39th largest count among the states.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 3.3 of every 1,000 jobs in South Dakota, 1.4 times the national share.
What a detailing business in South Dakota should charge
Say you run a detailing business in South Dakota and pay the state median of $16.85 an hour. Here is the labor rate calculator's math on its starting numbers: 40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit.
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $16.85 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $37,729 |
| Break-even rate | ($37,729 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $85.15 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $85.15 ÷ 0.85 | $100.18 |
That is $100.18 per billable hour, 5.9 times the wage, and almost the same as the $100.85 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $17.69 in South Dakota, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $101.65.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $14.16, the rate only drops to $95.46.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Working as an auto detailer in South Dakota
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how detailers run on Koira.
- Getting found. The free Koira report checks how your business shows up in search and on maps against shops near you.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 53-7061, cleaners of vehicles and equipment, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: auto detailer salary by state.