- The middle half earn between $14.76 and $18.87 an hour.
- South Dakota is 48th 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 2,980 landscapers on payrolls in South Dakota.
- At the state median wage, a landscaping business needs to bill about $100.46 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Landscaper pay in South Dakota, bottom to top
BLS calls this group landscaping and groundskeeping workers. It covers lawn crews, planting and hardscape helpers and groundskeepers at schools, parks and offices.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $13.99 | $29,100 | $14.98 |
| 25th percentile | $14.76 | $30,710 | $17.40 |
| Median | $17.01 | $35,370 | $18.82 |
| 75th percentile | $18.87 | $39,250 | $22.52 |
| 90th percentile | $22.45 | $46,700 | $27.28 |
| Average (mean) | $17.60 | $36,600 | $20.33 |
Pay is bunched up in South Dakota. The top tenth earn $22.45 an hour or more, about 1.6 times the $13.99 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.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $0.99 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $4.83 less than the national top tenth.
The average, $17.60, 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 $35,370 is $3,780 less than the national $39,150.
In the state ranking, South Dakota sits 48th, between Alabama ($17.13) and Louisiana ($16.76). The range runs from $15.21 in Mississippi to $23.46 in the District of Columbia.
Every one of the neighboring states pays landscapers more than South Dakota. The closest is Wyoming at $18.42, 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 landscapers work in South Dakota
About 2,980 landscapers work on payrolls in South Dakota, 0.3% of the 952,640 nationwide, the 46th largest count among the states.
That is 6.5 of every 1,000 jobs in South Dakota, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a landscaping business 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 landscaping business in South Dakota paying the state median of $17.01, 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 | $17.01 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $38,087 |
| Break-even rate | ($38,087 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $85.39 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $85.39 ÷ 0.85 | $100.46 |
That is $100.46 per billable hour, 5.9 times the wage, and $3.18 less than the $103.64 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $18.87 in South Dakota, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $103.73.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $14.76, the rate only drops to $96.51.
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 landscaper in South Dakota
- Running the business. Quotes, invoices, booking and your website in one place: how landscaping 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 37-3011, landscaping and groundskeeping workers, 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: landscaper salary by state.