SOC 35-3023 · Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations · May 2025

How much do Fast Food and Counter Workers make in Rapid City, SD?

In the May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics estimates, released May 15, 2026, the median annual wage for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Rapid City, SD is $29,440. The 10th percentile is $27,850 and the 90th percentile is $36,400. Employment is 2,860.

Median annual wage

$29,440

10th percentile
$27,850
25th percentile
$28,650
Median
$29,440
75th percentile
$30,820
90th percentile
$36,400
Mean
$30,880

Annual wage from the May 2025 OEWS estimates.

A dental hygienist treating a patient
A dental hygienist at work. Photograph by baskyes. Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0

Percentile spread

For Fast Food and Counter Workers, the published 10th percentile is $27,850 and the 90th percentile is $36,400. The difference is $8,550, which is 29.0% of the median. Ten percent of measured wages fall below the 10th percentile and ten percent fall above the 90th. How to read a percentile.

The middle half of the distribution, from the 25th percentile at $28,650 to the 75th at $30,820, covers $2,170.

The mean annual wage is $30,880, which sits above the median of $29,440. Median and mean measure different points in the same distribution.

National and state comparison

The Rapid City, SD median is 5.6% lower than the national median of $31,200 for Fast Food and Counter Workers. In 2024 national prices the local median is $33,019, which is 5.8% higher than that same national median. The national figure is already in national prices because the United States parity is 100.

It is 0.2% lower than the South Dakota median of $29,490.

Price-adjusted pay

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for Rapid City, SD is 89.160, with the United States at 100. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released those parities on February 19, 2026. Dividing the May 2025 median of $29,440 by that parity and multiplying by 100 puts Fast Food and Counter Workers at $33,019 in national prices. The wage year and the price year are different. Compare this wage after prices.

Nearby metros

No other metropolitan area within 200 miles has a published annual median for Fast Food and Counter Workers in the May 2025 tables. A wage from farther away is not filled in. When a wage is not published.

Employment share

Fast Food and Counter Workers accounts for 3.9% of wage-and-salary employment in Rapid City, SD (2,860 of 73,820). Nationally the occupation is 2.5% of employment (3,854,050 of 155,495,730). The local share is 1.56 times the national share. That ratio is the location quotient computed from these May 2025 employment counts. It is not copied from the location-quotient column in the BLS bulk file.

Highest-paying jobs in Rapid City, SD · Fast Food and Counter Workers by metro · How to read these percentiles · Median and mean · When a wage is not published · How the figures are made · Compare this wage after prices

Questions this page answers

How much do Fast Food and Counter Workers make in Rapid City, SD?

In the May 2025 OEWS estimates, released May 15, 2026, the median annual wage for Fast Food and Counter Workers in Rapid City, SD is $29,440. The 10th percentile is $27,850 and the 90th percentile is $36,400. Employment is 2,860.

How does that compare with the national median for Fast Food and Counter Workers?

The local median is 5.6% lower than the national median of $31,200.

What is Fast Food and Counter Workers pay in Rapid City, SD after local prices?

The 2024 all-items regional price parity for Rapid City, SD is 89.160, with the United States at 100. In those national prices, the May 2025 median of $29,440 is $33,019. The wage is May 2025 and the parity is 2024.