SOC 35-3031 · Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations · May 2025
How much do Waiters and Waitresses make in Rapid City, SD?
In the May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics estimates, released May 15, 2026, the median annual wage for Waiters and Waitresses in Rapid City, SD is $29,020. The 10th percentile is $27,530 and the 90th percentile is $40,640. Employment is 1,430.
Median annual wage
$29,020
- 10th percentile
- $27,530
- 25th percentile
- $28,310
- Median
- $29,020
- 75th percentile
- $33,160
- 90th percentile
- $40,640
- Mean
- $31,570
Annual wage from the May 2025 OEWS estimates.
Percentile spread
For Waiters and Waitresses, the published 10th percentile is $27,530 and the 90th percentile is $40,640. The difference is $13,110, which is 45.2% 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 $28,310 to the 75th at $33,160, covers $4,850.
The mean annual wage is $31,570, which sits above the median of $29,020. Median and mean measure different points in the same distribution.
National and state comparison
The Rapid City, SD median is 17.6% lower than the national median of $35,230 for Waiters and Waitresses. In 2024 national prices the local median is $32,548, which is 7.6% lower than that same national median. The national figure is already in national prices because the United States parity is 100.
It is 0.1% higher than the South Dakota median of $28,990.
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 $29,020 by that parity and multiplying by 100 puts Waiters and Waitresses at $32,548 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 Waiters and Waitresses in the May 2025 tables. A wage from farther away is not filled in. When a wage is not published.
Employment share
Waiters and Waitresses accounts for 1.9% of wage-and-salary employment in Rapid City, SD (1,430 of 73,820). Nationally the occupation is 1.5% of employment (2,270,910 of 155,495,730). The local share is 1.33 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 · Waiters and Waitresses 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 Waiters and Waitresses make in Rapid City, SD?
In the May 2025 OEWS estimates, released May 15, 2026, the median annual wage for Waiters and Waitresses in Rapid City, SD is $29,020. The 10th percentile is $27,530 and the 90th percentile is $40,640. Employment is 1,430.
How does that compare with the national median for Waiters and Waitresses?
The local median is 17.6% lower than the national median of $35,230.
What is Waiters and Waitresses 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 $29,020 is $32,548. The wage is May 2025 and the parity is 2024.