Best Fish programs in South Dakota, ranked by enrollment
Patrol assigned area to prevent fish and game law violations. Investigate reports of damage to crops or property by wildlife.
1 schools in South Dakota run programs that feed this job, graduating 16 people a year. The job pays a median of $68,810 in South Dakota across about 100 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in South Dakota that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in South Dakota that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in South Dakota (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own South Dakota page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 03.0208In South Dakota → | 16 | 100.0% | 1 | $37,946 | $24,125 |
Top 1 schools in South Dakota
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 1 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Dakota State University Brookings, SD Public · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Environmental/Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services | — | 62% | — | 98% |
All 1 schools in South Dakota
Every school in South Dakota with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Dakota State University | Brookings | Public | 16 | 1 |
What fish and game wardens earn in South Dakota
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $74,060. South Dakota pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: South Dakota employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Fish and Game Wardens page.
How to become a Fish
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in South Dakota
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Fish and Game Wardens1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 03.0208Environmental/Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services
Common questions
Answers for people weighing fish and game wardens programs in South Dakota.
What degree do you need to become a Fish?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Environmental/Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services, which awarded 16 degrees in South Dakota in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Fish?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy. Together they graduate about 16 people a year in South Dakota.
How much do fish and game wardens earn in South Dakota?+
The median is $68,810 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 7.1% below the U.S. median of $74,060. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for fish and game wardens growing?+
BLS projects a -6.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in South Dakota?+
1 institutions in South Dakota reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do fish and game wardens work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Game Warden, Wildlife Officer, State Game Warden, Natural Resource Officer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 33-3031.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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