Chef Salary in Sioux Falls, SD: Median $30,010 in 2026
Sioux Falls (SD) · COL index 91 · Unemployment 2.2% · Metro pop 275,000 · Rank #191 of 283 for Chef salary
A Chef in Sioux Falls earns an estimated median of $30,010 per year. That figure starts from the South Dakota state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($29,070) and scales it by Sioux Falls's composite cost-of-living index of 91 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $24,642; the 90th percentile reaches $38,093. After federal, South Dakota state (no state income tax), and FICA taxes, a single-filer Chef takes home approximately $26,241/year — about $2,187/month or $1,009 every other week.
Compared to the national Chef median of $58,920, Sioux Falls pays -49.1%. Relative to the Sioux Falls median household income of $64,200, a Chefsalary runs -53.3%. Local unemployment is 2.2%[3], with an estimated 18 annual Chef openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (148,600).
Chef Snapshot — Sioux Falls (2026)
Every row cites a primary public dataset. Rent + home values use Zillow where the metro is in the ZHVI/ZORI coverage set; otherwise ACS + census tract fallbacks.
| Metric | Sioux Falls | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chef median salary | $30,010 | $58,920 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $24,642 | $42,850 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $38,093 | $105,720 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $26,241 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $336,938 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $1,315/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $1,200/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $81,418 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 91.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 2.2% | — | [3] |
How Chef Salaries Work in Sioux Falls
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the South Dakota state-level OEWS median ($29,070) and scaling by Sioux Falls's composite cost-of-living index (91)[1][4]. That index combines Census ACS rent, Zillow ZHVI, BLS CPI, and AdvisorSmith / ApartmentAdvisor inputs to produce one number per metro. When BLS publishes a separate metro-level wage (MSA-level OEWS), that takes priority — a handful of large metros including New York, LA, Chicago, and DC have this coverage.
On top of the gross wage, the standard US payroll stack applies: federal income tax using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction[8], FICA (Social Security 6.2% up to $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45%)[9], and no South Dakota state income tax — a meaningful wedge worth $1,501–$2,101 per year vs average-tax states[10].
Sioux Falls also sits inside a larger metro labor market where commute patterns, remote-work policies, and adjacent-metro wages compete. A tight labor market (unemployment below 4%) gives candidates pricing power in negotiations. Median household income in the metro is $81,418, which frames what "a good Chef salary" means locally: a $$30,010 wage pays about 37% of the median household income on a single earner.
The deterministic identity: take_home = gross − federal − state − FICA − pre_tax. All math runs client-side; nothing is sent to our servers.
Cost of Living Breakdown — Sioux Falls
Estimated annual expense shares on a $26,241 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Sioux Falls's COL index of 91. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Sioux Falls's COL index of 91[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $865/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Sioux Falls
Renting
Buying
At $2,187/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $656/mo. Sioux Falls's typical 1–2BR rent runs $1,315/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $1,200/mo), making rent tight but manageable on a median Chef salary. For homebuyers, the 10.3× price-to-income ratio is stretched — expect DTI friction on FHA / conventional underwriting without a co-borrower.
How Sioux Falls Stacks Up for Chefs
Against 283 major US cities: Sioux Falls ranks #191 for nominal Chef salary, #10 for rent affordability, and #94 for overall purchasing power. High cost of living absorbs much of Sioux Falls's nominal wage premium. Chefs here often trade pay for lifestyle, proximity to employers, or family roots — consider nearby metros on a salary-to-COL basis.
Nearby Cities — Chef Salary Comparison
Sioux Falls's closest metros, scaled by each city's cost-of-living index. Useful for relocation decisions where commute or remote-work policies allow a neighboring metro trade-off.
| City | Est. salary | COL | Rent | vs SD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sioux Falls, SD ★ | $30,010 | 91 | $865 | — |
| Rapid City, SD | $54,796 | 93 | $1,050 | +82.6% |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $53,617 | 91 | $1,295 | +78.7% |
| Harrisburg, PA | $53,617 | 91 | $1,100 | +78.7% |
| Tucson, AZ | $53,617 | 91 | $868 | +78.7% |
| Cincinnati, OH | $53,617 | 91 | $952 | +78.7% |
Chef Job Market in Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls has an estimated 18 annual Chefopenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 148,600 national Chefs[1]. The 2.2% unemployment rate[3] signals a competitive labor market where skilled professionals can push for top-of-band offers.
About the profession: Chefs and head cooks oversee kitchen operations, plan menus, and supervise food preparation in restaurants, hotels, and other food service establishments. Typical entry requirement: associate's degree or culinary certificate. Projected growth through 2034: 6%[2].
Career Progression & Related Professions in Sioux Falls
Early-career Chefs in Sioux Falls start around $24,642, reach the city median ($30,010) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($38,093) at senior / specialized levels.
Related service professions in Sioux Falls
Calculators for Chefs in Sioux Falls
Other professions in Sioux Falls
Frequently Asked Questions — Chef in Sioux Falls
How much does a Chef make in Sioux Falls, SD?
The estimated median salary for a Chef in Sioux Falls is $30,010/year, scaled from the BLS OEWS South Dakota state median ($29,070) by Sioux Falls's composite cost-of-living index of 91 (US = 100). After federal, South Dakota state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $26,241/year or $2,187/month.
Can a Chef afford to live in Sioux Falls?
On $2,187/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $656/month. Sioux Falls's Zillow ZORI median rent is $1,315/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $1,200/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 34.6%, making housing tight but manageable for a Chef at the local median. Home-buyers face 10.3× price-to-income, needing roughly 10.3 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a Chef pay in Sioux Falls?
On $30,010 gross, a Chef in Sioux Falls pays approximately $1,473 in federal income tax (4.9% effective), $0 in state income tax (South Dakota has no state individual income tax), and $2,296 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 12.6%. Some South Dakota cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Sioux Falls rank for Chef salaries vs other cities?
Sioux Falls ranks #191 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal Chef salary, #10 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #94 for purchasing power (salary ÷ COL). The high-purchasing-power cities tend to be mid-size metros with strong local employers and moderate housing costs; the low-ranked cities trade high nominal pay for steep rents.
What is the cost-of-living breakdown for a Chef in Sioux Falls?
On $26,241 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Sioux Falls looks like: housing $10,380/yr (39.6%); food $2,979/yr; transportation $2,530/yr; healthcare $1,787/yr; utilities $1,253/yr; savings + discretionary $7,312/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Sioux Falls's COL index of 91 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the Chef job market like in Sioux Falls?
Sioux Falls's unemployment rate is 2.2% across the metro of 275,000. Estimated annual Chef openings: ~18 (extrapolated from 148,600 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The tight labor market favors candidates in salary negotiations.
Do Sioux Falls employers pay above or below the South Dakota median for Chefs?
Not consistently — Sioux Falls's estimated Chef median of $30,010 is 49.1% below the national median. The trade-off is usually lower rents and (in some cases) lower state taxes, which can leave real purchasing power competitive.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The Sioux Falls median is derived from the South Dakota state-level BLS OEWS median ($29,070), scaled by Sioux Falls's composite cost-of-living index of 91. When BLS publishes a direct MSA-level wage for the occupation, that takes priority over the scaled state median. Percentile bands inherit the same scale factor.
Housing + rent. Median home value uses Zillow ZHVI; median rent prefers Zillow ZORI and falls back to Census ACS median gross rent. HUD Fair Market Rents (50th-percentile 2BR) are shown where HUD publishes the metro. Price-to-income and rent-to-income ratios use the estimated Chefmedian (not the city's overall median household income) — to reflect the specific role-vs-city affordability picture.
Tax math. Federal tax uses 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction. FICA is Social Security 6.2% up to the $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (+ 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000). State tax uses South Dakota's 2026 brackets from the state DoR (mirrored via Tax Foundation where the DoR's publication is paywalled or split). Local income taxes (e.g. NYC, Portland-OR supplemental, OH municipal) are NOT included — check your municipal authority for specifics.
Cost of living. The 91index is the composite used by CalcFi's /data/cities.ts, which merges Census ACS, BLS CPI shelter, Zillow ZORI, and commercial COL estimators. The COL-adjusted salary on this page assumes the statewide RPP = 88.1(BEA) approximates the state's purchasing power; cities are then scaled relative to that.
Refresh cadence. BLS OEWS releases annually (typically March); BEA RPP releases annually in December; IRS brackets adjust in October; Zillow ZHVI/ZORI updates monthly; HUD FMR publishes annually in August for the upcoming fiscal year. The dateModified shown above auto-bumps to the most recent retrievedAt on any sourced value the page consumes.
Known limits. Metro-level OEWS coverage is partial — only ~50 large MSAs have separately published occupation wages; the rest inherit state-level estimates scaled by COL. Rent and home data may trail the real-time market by 1–3 months (Zillow) or 8–12 months (ACS). Rankings are capped to the city set in our dataset (283 metros), not every incorporated US city.
Sources
Every number on this page cites a primary public dataset. Last reviewed (auto-bumped on the next ISR refresh after an ETL run).
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — state-level occupational wages — www.bls.gov/oes. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
- South Dakota Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-06-14.
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