HVAC technician salary in South Dakota

Pay in South Dakota, from entry level to the top

BLS counts 1,610 HVAC mechanics and installers on South Dakota payrolls. Pay is tightly bunched: even the best-paid tenth ($36.15 and up) earn under twice what the lowest-paid tenth do ($23.28). The average, $29.37, is close to the median, so a few high earners don't skew the picture.

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025. Annual pay is hourly × 2,080 hours.

How South Dakota compares

The $29.51 median is in line with the national figure and ranks 24th of the 50 states and DC. HVAC work is unusually common here: 3.5 of every 1,000 jobs, 34% above the national share. The median worker in South Dakota, across every occupation, earns $22.63 an hour, so HVAC pays 30% more than the local norm. See every state on the US HVAC technician salary page.

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.

Across South Dakota's metro areas

Sioux Falls pays the most ($30.02 an hour) and Rapid City the least ($29.53), a gap of $0.49. Outside the metros, 2 nonmetropolitan areas report $29.17 and $28.63.

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025. Areas with fewer than 100 techs are rough estimates.

What an hour of HVAC work costs in South Dakota

A tech at the South Dakota median earns $29.51 an hour. Our price model bills that hour at about $114 here ($75–$151), at the national level, because local HVAC wages match the US median.

Of each $114 billed, about $30 is the technician's wage. The other $84 pays for payroll taxes and benefits, insurance, the truck and tools, drive and training time nobody is billed for, and the shop's margin.

Take a typical South Dakota AC repair at $390: about $244 of it is labor, the equivalent of 2.1 billed hours, and the technician's own pay for that time comes to roughly $63.

• AC repair cost in South Dakota: typical $390, of which $244 is labor
• Furnace repair cost in South Dakota: typical $350, of which $250 is labor
• Heat pump repair cost in South Dakota: typical $410, of which $244 is labor
• HVAC tune-up cost in South Dakota: typical $160, of which $160 is labor

Every other local price, wage and climate figure: HVAC prices in South Dakota.

Source: wages, BLS OEWS May 2025; billable rate, HomeGuide HVAC repair costs (2026) scaled by local HVAC wages; repair prices, HVACFIND Price Index 2026Q4.2 (model estimates for a 1,500–2,500 sq ft home).

After state tax and local prices

South Dakota has no state income tax on wages, so the whole $61,390 median is still there before federal tax and FICA. That leaves South Dakota 18th of 51 after state tax.

Prices in South Dakota run 11% below the US average (BEA regional price parities, 2024), so the $61,390 median buys what $69,297 would nationally. On that measure South Dakota ranks 10th of 51.

Source: state income tax at 2026 rates, single filer, standard deduction; federal income tax, FICA and city taxes left out. Price parities: BEA, 2024.

Other trades in South Dakota

Next to HVAC techs in South Dakota, electricians earn about the same and plumbers earn $4.69 less an hour. HVAC out-earns four of the five related trades listed.

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.

Licensing and training in South Dakota

South Dakota has no statewide HVAC contractor license; cities and counties set their own rules (No state HVAC license).

Refrigerant work also needs EPA Section 608 certification. BLS lists a postsecondary nondegree award, usually a certificate from a trade school or community college program, as the typical way in, followed by long-term on-the-job training, which BLS defines as more than 12 months. No prior work experience is required. How to check an HVAC contractor's license in South Dakota.

Source: HVACFIND licensing list, checked 2026-09-30 (confirm with the board before relying on it); BLS Employment Projections 2025–2035.

Questions

Sources

• BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: HVAC mechanics and installers (49-9021)
• BLS Employment Projections, 2025–2035
• O*NET 31.0: Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers
• BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
• EPA Section 608 technician certification
• HomeGuide: HVAC repair cost and hourly rates (2026)