Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Database administrators
- Median annual wage: $95,430
- Median hourly wage: $45.88
- Total employment: 80 people (0.46 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Sioux Falls
Despite recession fears and falling consumer confidence, the job market in the United States has remained relatively stable in 2025 thus far. According to May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics data, around 177,000 new jobs were added in April, a slight decrease from the 185,000 new jobs added in the month before, but an extension of the country's 52-month streak of job growth. Unemployment rates also held relatively steady between April 2024 and April 2025, coming in at around 4%.
Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean Americans have it easy in the workplace. A December 2024 Payscale report found that nearly half (47%) of business organizations struggle to balance fair pay practices with spend optimization, and 18% plan to reduce pay increases in 2025 as a result.
For context, median weekly earnings across all employees in the U.S. stood at $1,194 in the first quarter of 2025. This represents an increase of 4.8% from a year prior and exceeds the Consumer Price Index's 2.7% increase in the same time period. However, there's one caveat: Earnings go much further in some places than in others.
In fact, the very definition of a "high-paying" job varies by location, as well as other factors such as industry and benefits. Even a six-figure salary may be considered low-income in places with an unusually high cost of living. Meanwhile, technology, finance, and health care jobs lead in terms of salary, but benefits like remote work can make other lower-paying jobs more desirable.
Regardless, anyone seeking a high-paying job should start by looking at the numbers. Stacker used BLS data to find the 50 highest-paying jobs in Sioux Falls. Jobs are ranked by their median annual pay as of May 2024, so any jobs without annual compensation figures available were excluded from this analysis.
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Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
2 / 50#49. Education administrators, postsecondary
- Median annual wage: $97,640
- Median hourly wage: $46.94
- Total employment: 30 people (0.18 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Civil engineers
- Median annual wage: $98,010
- Median hourly wage: $47.12
- Total employment: 460 people (2.63 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Architects, except landscape and naval
- Median annual wage: $99,410
- Median hourly wage: $47.79
- Total employment: 100 people (0.59 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
kittirat roekburi // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Environmental engineers
- Median annual wage: $99,480
- Median hourly wage: $47.83
- Total employment: 30 people (0.17 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Skycolors // Shutterstock
6 / 50#45. Commercial pilots
- Median annual wage: $99,670
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 90 people (0.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Luisa Leal Photography // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Electrical power-line installers and repairers
- Median annual wage: $99,910
- Median hourly wage: $48.04
- Total employment: 130 people (0.76 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Nicola Forenza // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Lawyers
- Median annual wage: $101,210
- Median hourly wage: $48.66
- Total employment: 420 people (2.4 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Electrical engineers
- Median annual wage: $101,700
- Median hourly wage: $48.90
- Total employment: 190 people (1.1 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary
- Median annual wage: $101,810
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 180 people (1.02 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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BalanceFormCreative // Shutterstock
11 / 50#40. Information security analysts
- Median annual wage: $103,390
- Median hourly wage: $49.71
- Total employment: 220 people (1.26 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
goodluz // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers
- Median annual wage: $103,530
- Median hourly wage: $49.77
- Total employment: 190 people (1.1 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Ground Picture // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. First-line supervisors of police and detectives
- Median annual wage: $103,700
- Median hourly wage: $49.86
- Total employment: 30 people (0.2 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Quality Stock Arts // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Facilities managers
- Median annual wage: $104,990
- Median hourly wage: $50.48
- Total employment: 130 people (0.72 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
creativemarc // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $105,190
- Median hourly wage: $50.57
- Total employment: 200 people (1.15 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Prath // Shutterstock
16 / 50#35. Detectives and criminal investigators
- Median annual wage: $105,790
- Median hourly wage: $50.86
- Total employment: 60 people (0.35 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $105,810
- Median hourly wage: $50.87
- Total employment: 200 people (1.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents
- Median annual wage: $106,500
- Median hourly wage: $51.20
- Total employment: 220 people (1.25 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
TaLaNoVa // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Sales engineers
- Median annual wage: $107,440
- Median hourly wage: $51.65
- Total employment: 40 people (0.21 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
g-stockstudio // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers
- Median annual wage: $108,460
- Median hourly wage: $52.14
- Total employment: 310 people (1.79 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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N.Z.Photography // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. Computer occupations, all other
- Median annual wage: $111,030
- Median hourly wage: $53.38
- Total employment: 70 people (0.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $115,750
- Median hourly wage: $55.65
- Total employment: 370 people (2.1 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $116,700
- Median hourly wage: $56.11
- Total employment: 170 people (0.98 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
GaudiLab // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $120,580
- Median hourly wage: $57.97
- Total employment: 260 people (1.51 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Training and development managers
- Median annual wage: $120,760
- Median hourly wage: $58.06
- Total employment: 30 people (0.18 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $120,870
- Median hourly wage: $58.11
- Total employment: 510 people (2.92 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stock Rocket // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products
- Median annual wage: $121,800
- Median hourly wage: $58.56
- Total employment: 610 people (3.48 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kzenon // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Optometrists
- Median annual wage: $126,630
- Median hourly wage: $60.88
- Total employment: 70 people (0.42 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stokkete // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Physician assistants
- Median annual wage: $128,130
- Median hourly wage: $61.60
- Total employment: 280 people (1.63 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Nurse practitioners
- Median annual wage: $130,580
- Median hourly wage: $62.78
- Total employment: 470 people (2.72 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
31 / 50#20. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $131,710
- Median hourly wage: $63.32
- Total employment: 160 people (0.9 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $134,610
- Median hourly wage: $64.71
- Total employment: 240 people (1.35 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $138,940
- Median hourly wage: $66.80
- Total employment: 1,760 people (10.07 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. Pharmacists
- Median annual wage: $143,000
- Median hourly wage: $68.75
- Total employment: 710 people (4.07 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Computer network architects
- Median annual wage: $144,160
- Median hourly wage: $69.31
- Total employment: 340 people (1.93 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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fizkes // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $145,390
- Median hourly wage: $69.90
- Total employment: Not available
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $165,250
- Median hourly wage: $79.45
- Total employment: 430 people (2.44 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $168,640
- Median hourly wage: $81.08
- Total employment: 180 people (1.04 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Prostock-studio // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Dentists, general
- Median annual wage: $170,860
- Median hourly wage: $82.15
- Total employment: 90 people (0.53 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BOY ANTHONY // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $170,990
- Median hourly wage: $82.21
- Total employment: 90 people (0.53 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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PeopleImages.com - Yuri A // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Family medicine physicians
- Median annual wage: $217,460
- Median hourly wage: $104.55
- Total employment: 360 people (2.04 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Pediatricians, general
- Median annual wage: $217,990
- Median hourly wage: $104.80
- Total employment: 60 people (0.34 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
LightField Studios // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Nurse anesthetists
- Median annual wage: $221,020
- Median hourly wage: $106.26
- Total employment: 220 people (1.29 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
44 / 50#1. Physicians, all other (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 70 people (0.38 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Photoroyalty // Shutterstock
45 / 50#1. Surgeons, all other (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 70 people (0.4 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Roman Zaiets // Shutterstock
46 / 50#1. Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 60 people (0.34 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
47 / 50#1. Obstetricians and gynecologists (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 40 people (0.25 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
BlurryMe // Shutterstock
48 / 50#1. General internal medicine physicians (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 80 people (0.45 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
49 / 50#1. Chief executives (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: 270 people (1.52 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Anesthesiologists (tie)
- Median annual wage: At least $239,200
- Median hourly wage: At least $115.00
- Total employment: Not available
This story features data reporting by Wade Zhou, writing by Cu Fleshman, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 364 metros.
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