- The middle half earn between $13.77 and $16.61 an hour.
- South Dakota is 43rd of the 50 states and DC, in the bottom ten for this trade.
- South Dakota pays less than all 6 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 3,540 house cleaners on payrolls in South Dakota.
- At the state median wage, a cleaning company needs to bill about $95.88 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
House Cleaner pay in South Dakota, bottom to top
BLS files house cleaners under maids and housekeeping cleaners, a group that also includes hotel and hospital housekeeping staff.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $13.41 | $27,890 | $13.29 |
| 25th percentile | $13.77 | $28,640 | $14.59 |
| Median | $14.40 | $29,950 | $17.07 |
| 75th percentile | $16.61 | $34,540 | $19.03 |
| 90th percentile | $18.86 | $39,220 | $23.35 |
| Average (mean) | $15.38 | $31,990 | $17.83 |
Pay is bunched up in South Dakota. The top tenth earn $18.86 an hour or more, about 1.4 times the $13.41 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 1.8 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 ($13.41 against $13.29) but the ceiling is lower ($18.86 against $23.35), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average, $15.38, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How South Dakota compares with other states
Over a full year, the South Dakota median of $29,950 is $5,560 less than the national $35,510.
In the state ranking, South Dakota sits 43rd, between South Carolina ($14.55) and Georgia ($14.31). The range runs from $12.19 in Mississippi to $24.81 in Hawaii.
Every one of the neighboring states pays house cleaners more than South Dakota. The closest is Wyoming at $15.32, and the biggest gap is with Minnesota.
BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs. Lower pay often comes with lower housing costs, so the gap in take-home value can be smaller than the gap in wages.
How many house cleaners work in South Dakota
About 3,540 house cleaners work on payrolls in South Dakota, 0.4% of the 860,670 nationwide, the 44th largest count among the states.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 7.7 of every 1,000 jobs in South Dakota, 1.4 times the national share.
What a cleaning company in South Dakota should charge
A lower wage helps the price less than you might expect, because the overhead does not shrink with it. Here is a cleaning company in South Dakota paying the state median of $14.40, on the labor rate calculator's 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 | $14.40 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $32,243 |
| Break-even rate | ($32,243 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $81.50 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $81.50 ÷ 0.85 | $95.88 |
That is $95.88 per billable hour, 6.7 times the wage, and $4.69 less than the $100.57 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $16.61 in South Dakota, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $99.76.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $13.77, the rate only drops to $94.77.
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 a house cleaner in South Dakota
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how cleaning companies 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 37-2012, maids and housekeeping cleaners, 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: house cleaner salary by state.