
Salary / MD / DO / South Dakota
MD / DO salary in South Dakota
What MD / DO roles are advertised at, and the South Dakota factors that change the number.
How much does a MD / DO earn in South Dakota?
MD / DO advertised pay by experience
- Entry
- $250k
- First role after certification
- Mid-career
- $300k
- Two to five years, full caseload
- Senior
- $360k
- Supervisory scope or specialist skill
Official South Dakota wage data
Federal wage data for South Dakota puts the median for psychiatrists at $226,180 a year, with the middle of the market between $130,000 and $341,360 and about 60 people employed in the state (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025).
- Median
- $226,180
- Mean
- $270,220
- 10th percentile
- $130,000
- 90th percentile
- $341,360
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. State wage tables
What changes a MD / DO offer in South Dakota
- Psychiatrist practice in South Dakota is regulated by the state nursing or medical board that issues the credential, not by the counseling boards. We do not publish SD-specific requirements for this credential, so confirm them with that board before you accept a start date.
- Setting: Inpatient psychiatry, Outpatient clinics, Telepsychiatry price differently for the same credential.
- Caseload cap and billable or productivity target, which decide whether a bonus is real.
- Metro cost of living within the state; a city premium is not the same as a better offer.
- Scarcity: Severe shortage in child and adolescent psychiatry and in rural and community settings.
How to read the SD figures
The federal estimates above are the official South Dakota picture for psychiatrists, published annually and lagging the market by about a year. What we publish alongside them is what we actually see advertised on roles we recruit today. Use the federal median as a floor for negotiation and the advertised range as the live signal.
Bureau of Labor Statistics wage dataLast reviewed August 2026.
Live MD / DO roles in South Dakota
No live MD / DO roles in South Dakota right now. Tell us your license status and target setting and we will contact you when the next South Dakota search opens.
Join the talent networkHow to work as a MD / DO in South Dakota
- 1
Confirm the credential
State medical licensure and ABPN board certification. This is the baseline every South Dakota employer screens on before anything else.
- 2
Check the SD requirement
Psychiatrist practice in South Dakota is regulated by the state nursing or medical board that issues the credential, not by the counseling boards. We do not publish SD-specific requirements for this credential, so confirm them with that board before you accept a start date.
- 3
Check the multi-state routes
PSYPACT: enacted; Counseling Compact: enacted (privileges not yet live) Compact participation changes, so confirm the current position with the South Dakota board rather than a secondary source.
- 4
Build board processing into your start date
Processing time, not eligibility, is the usual cause of a delayed start. Agree a start date with the licensing timeline already in it.
- 5
Match the credential to open work
Compare the advertised range for MD / DO roles, roughly $250k – $360k, against the live South Dakota vacancies on this page, or join the talent network to be contacted when the next South Dakota search opens.
Continue with MD / DO in South Dakota
- MD / DO jobs in South DakotaEvery live MD / DO vacancy we hold in SD
- All MD / DO jobsThe national board for this credential
- National MD / DO salary guideEntry, mid-career and senior figures
- South Dakota market and licensureMetros, boards and compact status
- Licensure compacts and multi-state practicePSYPACT, the Counseling Compact and the Social Work Licensure Compact, state by state, and what each one does and does not let a clinician do.
- Changing states as a behavioral health clinicianA practical sequence for moving states: credential first, license second, offer third, with the market context that decides whether the move pays.
- US behavioral health pay benchmarksWhat BCBA, RBT, SLP, OT, LCSW, LPC and PMHNP roles are advertised at across the US, by credential and experience level, and the four factors that move an offer more than tenure does.
MD / DO pay and licensure in South Dakota: common questions
- Do you need a license to work as a MD / DO in South Dakota?
- Psychiatrist practice in South Dakota is regulated by the state nursing or medical board that issues the credential, not by the counseling boards. We do not publish SD-specific requirements for this credential, so confirm them with that board before you accept a start date. Confirm the current position with the South Dakota board before you accept a start date, as processing time is the usual cause of a delayed start.
- What is the average MD / DO salary in South Dakota?
- Federal wage data for South Dakota puts the median for psychiatrists at $226,180 a year, with the middle of the market between $130,000 and $341,360 and about 60 people employed in the state (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). Advertised pay on the MD / DO roles we recruit nationally sits at roughly $250k – $360k, and offers land inside that band according to setting, caseload and metro cost of living.
- Does MD / DO pay in South Dakota differ from the rest of the US?
- We publish advertised pay on the roles we recruit, not a South Dakota average. Across the US those MD / DO roles are advertised at roughly $250k – $360k, and where a South Dakota offer lands inside that band is driven by setting, caseload and metro cost of living. For an official comparison, South Dakota median pay for psychiatrists is $226,180; treat that as a negotiating floor.
- Where are the MD / DO jobs in South Dakota?
- Sioux Falls anchors almost all clinic-based hiring; elsewhere schools and tribal health services are the main employers. The live MD / DO vacancies we hold in South Dakota are listed on this page; when nothing is open there today, the national MD / DO board carries every role we currently hold.
- Who employs MD / DOs in South Dakota?
- The employers hiring this credential are inpatient psychiatry, outpatient clinics, telepsychiatry, residential treatment, academic centers. Which of those dominates in South Dakota follows the local funding and provider mix rather than any national pattern, and it is the single biggest driver of what an offer looks like: the same MD / DO is priced differently by a center-based provider, a school district and a hospital system.
- What do employers look for when hiring a MD / DO in South Dakota?
- First, the credential and the right to practise: state medical licensure and abpn board certification. Psychiatrist practice in South Dakota is regulated by the state nursing or medical board that issues the credential, not by the counseling boards. We do not publish SD-specific requirements for this credential, so confirm them with that board before you accept a start date. After that, hiring managers screen on the specifics of the work — caseload size you have carried, the settings you have worked in, supervision responsibility, and documentation or payer experience. Availability matters too: a realistic start date that accounts for board processing usually beats a stronger resume that cannot start.
- What does the salary range on this page actually mean?
- Two different things, kept separate on purpose. $250k – $360k is what MD / DO roles we recruit are advertised at across the US — a live market signal, not a survey. The federal figures are official South Dakota estimates for psychiatrists: $226,180 median, with $130,000 at the 10th percentile and $341,360 at the 90th. They cover the whole occupation in the state, are published annually and lag the market by roughly a year, so read the median as a negotiating floor rather than a target. Neither number is an offer; where you land inside a range is set by setting, caseload and metro cost of living.
MD / DO pay in other states
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Hiring MD / DOs in South Dakota
Pay is the last thing that fixes a stalled search
Child and adolescent fellowship-trained psychiatrists are the hardest hire in behavioral health, full stop.