PIERRE — South Dakota legislators are scheduled to receive a pay boost next year that will raise annual compensation for the 2027 session to about $16,492, according to figures tied to state law that links legislative salaries to a share of the state’s median household income.
How the increase is determined
State statute calculates lawmaker pay as 20 percent of South Dakota’s median household income. That formula produced the roughly 3 percent increase over this year’s session rate of $15,970. The automatic adjustment means salaries change without direct votes by lawmakers whenever the underlying income benchmark shifts.
Beyond base pay: reimbursements and allowances
In addition to the base salary, lawmakers may claim a variety of additional payments tied to travel, session needs and committee work. According to records from the Legislative Research Council, those supplemental expenses include:
- mileage reimbursements for travel related to legislative duties,
- daily living allowances during session and for committee meetings, and
- reimbursement for out-of-state travel for conferences.
When those extras are included, the average total payout per lawmaker for the most recent fiscal year rose substantially above the base salary, the Legislative Research Council reported.
Statewide cost and per-lawmaker totals
For fiscal year 2026, overall legislative compensation and reimbursements across the Legislature totaled nearly $3 million. The Legislative Research Council’s data put the mean total payment to each lawmaker at about $26,800 for that year.
| Measure | Amount |
|---|---|
| 2026 session base pay | $15,970 |
| 2027 session base pay (projected) | $16,492 |
| Average total payout per lawmaker (FY 2026) | ~$26,800 |
| Legislative compensation & reimbursements (FY 2026) | ~$3,000,000 |
Public interest and accountability
The automatic pay adjustment has sparked discussion about transparency and the cost of legislating. Because the increase is formula-driven, it avoids a direct vote on salary increases by those who receive them, a feature supporters say reduces political conflict but that critics sometimes argue reduces direct accountability.
Annual supplemental costs — travel, per diems and other reimbursements — also contribute importantly to the Legislature’s overall price tag. Those expenses fluctuate with the amount of travel lawmakers undertake, the number and length of committee meetings and participation in conferences beyond state borders.
What the numbers mean for taxpayers
For individual taxpayers, the changes in a single lawmaker’s paycheck are modest when viewed against statewide budgets, but the combination of base pay and reimbursements drives the cumulative figure toward the multimillion-dollar mark. The nearly $3 million figure for fiscal 2026 reflects aggregated costs for both chambers and includes the sum of base compensation plus the various allowances and travel reimbursements reported by the Legislative Research Council.
How to follow future adjustments
Because the salary formula relies on a statewide median income metric, future changes will depend on shifts in that economic measure. Updates to median household income are typically released through state or federal data sources; once the benchmark changes, the 20 percent formula produces an updated salary figure that takes effect for the next legislative session.
Lawmakers and legislative staff provide itemized reimbursement reports to the Legislative Research Council. Those reports are the source for the most detailed public accounting of how session and committee activities translate into costs. Taxpayers interested in the line-item breakdown can consult the council’s published records for additional detail on individual reimbursements and travel claims.
The combination of a formula-based salary and additional, itemized reimbursements means the Legislature’s cost is a moving total that reflects broader economic conditions as well as the practical demands of lawmaking.
