Virtual receptionist in the East South Dakota nonmetro area: cost vs in-house

Pay in the East South Dakota nonmetro area against South Dakota and the US

Virtual receptionists at the 90th percentile earn $46,770, 1.7 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 1.7. The middle half of virtual receptionists in the East South Dakota nonmetro area earns $30,970–$42,850. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $11,880 wide, between the figure for South Dakota ($12,100) and the US figure ($11,170).

What to budget for a virtual receptionist here

The step from the 25th percentile to the median is $6,380 a year; from the median to the 75th it is $5,500, or about $7,097 once benefits are added. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $38,010 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in the East South Dakota nonmetro area, and the South Dakota statewide median of $38,280 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in the East South Dakota nonmetro area

At the $37,350 median, a local hire costs about $48,194 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $10,844 here. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for virtual receptionists we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in the East South Dakota nonmetro area

Virtual receptionists have the lowest median of the 15 roles we track in the East South Dakota nonmetro area; project coordinators have the highest, at $82,850.

Measured against the US median, virtual receptionists rank #2 of the 15 roles we track in the East South Dakota nonmetro area (-1.7%), between e-commerce order specialists (+4.0%) and HR assistants (-4.1%). The typical role here is at -12.3%, so, measured against the US, virtual receptionists cost more in the East South Dakota nonmetro area than the area's general pay level would suggest. Virtual receptionists hold 11.8% of the jobs in these 15 roles in the East South Dakota nonmetro area, 13.3% across South Dakota and 6.2% nationally. The job is a bigger part of the local workforce in these roles than it is nationally.

Other areas in South Dakota

Across the 4 areas of South Dakota with data for this job, the median runs from $37,350 in the East South Dakota nonmetro area to $38,560 in Sioux Falls, a gap of $1,210 a year. The one area in South Dakota with more virtual receptionists, Sioux Falls, SD-MN ($38,560), also pays more.

the East South Dakota nonmetro area against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, the East South Dakota nonmetro area is #112 of 521 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job, with pay near the middle of the US range. Outside South Dakota, Corvallis and Elmira pay just above the East South Dakota nonmetro area and Lansing-East Lansing and Midland just below. All four are within $70 a year of the median in the East South Dakota nonmetro area. Of the three markets with about as many virtual receptionists, one pays more.

Questions

Sources

How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.