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Salary data from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Medical And Health Services Managers Salary: South Dakota vs California

Medical And Health Services Managers earn a median of $116,210 in South Dakota and $136,500 in California. That is a nominal gap of $20,290 (-14.9%), with California paying more before any cost-of-living adjustment.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2024 estimates. Cost-of-living adjustment uses BEA Regional Price Parities, most recent release.

$116,210
South Dakota median
$131,183 after COL
$136,500
California median
$123,284 after COL
-14.9%
Nominal gap
California leads
+6.4%
Adjusted gap
South Dakota leads after COL

The story behind the numbers

On raw wages, California pays $20,290 more per year than South Dakota for medical and health services managers, a gap of +14.9%.

After adjusting for cost of living, the picture flips. South Dakota actually offers more purchasing power, effectively paying $7,899 more in national-price-level terms (a +6.4% real gap). The higher nominal wage in the other location is eaten up by higher local prices.

Full breakdown by location

Detailed wage, employment, and cost-of-living figures for medical and health services managers in each location. Click through to the full local salary page for percentiles, outlook, and peer areas.

Medical And Health Services Managers

South Dakota

Median salary
$116,210
Mean salary
$128,110
Employment
1,140
Location quotient
0.68
Jobs per 1,000
2.5
COL-adjusted median
$131,183
Regional Price Parity
88.6%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Medical And Health Services Managers page for South Dakota →

Medical And Health Services Managers

California

Median salary
$136,500
Mean salary
$154,620
Employment
68,800
Location quotient
1.04
Jobs per 1,000
3.8
COL-adjusted median
$123,284
Regional Price Parity
110.7%

Exact state RPP match.

Full Medical And Health Services Managers page for California →

Related pages

Keep digging into medical and health services managers from a different angle.

Common questions about this comparison

What does the cost-of-living adjustment actually do? +

It divides each location's nominal median wage by its Regional Price Parity (RPP), which measures how local prices compare to the national average (100 = national). A wage of $100,000 in an area with RPP 120 has the same purchasing power as roughly $83,000 nationally.

Why would the nominal and adjusted winners disagree? +

High-cost metros often pay higher salaries, but not by enough to fully offset the higher cost of housing, goods, and services. When that happens, the location with the lower nominal wage actually offers more real purchasing power.

What is a location quotient? +

The location quotient measures how concentrated an occupation is in a given area versus the national average. A value of 2.0 means the occupation is twice as common there as nationally. It is a signal of what a state specializes in.