Live in South Carolina, work in North Carolina
State income tax on wages · single filer · tax year 2026
North Carolina takes
$1,885
on wages earned there
South Carolina takes
$0
after the credit it gives
Both together
$1,885
state tax for the year
Cost of the line
$223
a year, above working at home
What crossing the line costs
costs youNorth Carolina charges more than South Carolina would, and South Carolina only credits you up to its own bill — so the difference stays with you. Solid is what you actually pay; the faded part of the South Carolina bar is the credit it hands back. State income tax only — federal and payroll tax apply on top, and a city wage tax may too.
Which state taxes you, and what it costs
- You are not taxed twice over. You are taxed at the higher of the two rates, which is its own kind of bad news. South Carolina hands back what you paid North Carolina, but only as far as its own bill goes. Anything North Carolina charges above that, you keep paying. On this salary the year comes to $1,885. Work at home instead and it would be $1,662.
- Of all the states feeding workers into North Carolina, South Carolina sends the most: 121,587 jobs. That makes this the largest crossing of its kind into the state, out of 5 of them.
- North Carolina taxes wages earned inside its borders by non-residents, and South Carolina taxes its residents on the same wages wherever they are earned. The resident credit resolves the overlap but does not erase it: South Carolina credits tax paid to North Carolina only up to what it would itself have charged on that income, so the commuter settles at the higher of the two liabilities rather than the sum. At the reference salary that is $1,885 against $1,662 for the same earner working at home — $223 attributable to the state line itself. ⚠️ The corollary is the part most readers have backwards: moving to a cheaper home state while keeping the job in North Carolina changes the split between the two treasuries and not the total.
- Measured against every other state sending commuters into North Carolina, this is the largest single flow: 121,587 jobs held by South Carolina residents, ahead of all 5 corridors of this size into that state. Census LODES counts jobs rather than people, so a worker holding two positions in North Carolina appears twice.
Where the money goes
A $75,000 salary
- Federal income tax$7,670
- Social Security and Medicare$5,738
- State income tax$2,657
- Yours$58,935
| Federal income tax10.23% | $7,670 |
|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare7.65% | $5,738 |
| State income tax3.54% | $2,657 |
| Yours78.58% | $58,935 |
Which rung you are on
A $75,000 salary
| This rung starts at | $66,500 |
|---|---|
| Next rung starts at | $121,800 |
| Room before it | $46,800 |
Federal only, measured on gross pay — so the first rung is what the standard deduction covers.
The arithmetic, step by step
| North Carolina takes, on wages earned there | $1,885 |
|---|---|
| South Carolina charges its residents | $1,662 |
| Less the credit South Carolina gives | $1,662 |
| Total state tax | $1,885 |
| If you also worked in South Carolina | $1,662 |
| Difference | $223 |
On a reference salary of $60,000 a year, single filer. Both states run progressive schedules, so the figures do not simply scale — use the tool above for your own salary.
What this page does not cover
- What you see here is state tax between South Carolina and North Carolina. Cities can charge their own tax on top, and a handful do. That layer is not modeled on this page, so treat these figures as the floor rather than the final bill.
- The figures take the simple case: one job, in North Carolina, worked in person. Money from several states makes the credit a proportion instead of a cap. Working remotely from South Carolina can pull you under a different rule entirely, depending on the state.
- Sixty thousand a year is the assumption behind these amounts, chosen because nobody publishes average pay for a route between two states. At your own salary the numbers shift. The conclusion about which of South Carolina and North Carolina takes more usually does not, but the size of the difference can.
- These figures cover the STATE layer only. City and municipal wage taxes sit on top of them and are not included: a commuter into Philadelphia pays its wage tax on top of anything here, and Ohio's municipalities run their own credit system, which this site models in its own families. New York City, by contrast, taxes only its residents, so a commuter into it adds nothing at the city level. Whether North Carolina or South Carolina carries a local layer is a separate question from the state arithmetic above.
- The arithmetic assumes all wages are earned in North Carolina and that there is no other income. That matters for the credit: where income comes from several states, South Carolina limits the credit to the share of its own tax attributable to the North Carolina portion, computed as a ratio rather than the straightforward cap used above. It also assumes days are worked in North Carolina rather than remotely — several states tax a non-resident's remote days as though they were worked at the employer's location, which reverses the usual expectation and is handled on this site's reciprocity pages.
- Dollar amounts are computed at a stated reference salary of sixty thousand rather than a corridor wage average, which no published source provides per state pair. Because both states' liabilities and the credit between them are functions of the same income, the direction of the South Carolina to North Carolina comparison holds at other salaries even though the amounts do not — with one qualification worth stating, that a progressive schedule can change the SIZE of the gap at higher incomes, and in North Carolina's case a bracket crossed on one side and not the other is exactly where that happens.
Questions people ask
Do I pay state tax twice, to South Carolina and North Carolina?
Both states tax the same wages, and then one of them backs off. North Carolina taxes what you earn inside it. South Carolina taxes you on everything, then subtracts what North Carolina already took, up to the size of its own bill. You end up paying the larger of the two, which is $1,885 a year on this route.
Would moving out of South Carolina lower my state tax if I keep working in North Carolina?
Probably not, and this is the part people get wrong. North Carolina taxes the wages because that is where you earn them, whoever you are and wherever you sleep. Your home state only ever credits you up to its own bill. So moving somewhere cheaper changes which government keeps the money, not how much leaves your pay. What would change it is the job moving, not you.
Do I have to file tax returns in both South Carolina and North Carolina?
Usually yes, and it catches people out. South Carolina wants a return because you live there. North Carolina usually wants one too, because you earned money inside it — even in the cases where you end up owing it nothing. Filing in a state and paying it are separate things, and the return is often what proves you do not owe.
What if I work from home in South Carolina some days instead of going to North Carolina?
Normally, days worked at home in South Carolina belong to South Carolina, and only the days you spend in North Carolina are taxed there. That is the ordinary rule. The exception is real though: some states count your remote days as worked at the employer's location anyway. That flips the answer completely, so check North Carolina's rule rather than assuming.
How is liability allocated between residence and work state on the same wages?
Both jurisdictions assert a claim on the same wages — North Carolina on a source basis, South Carolina on residence. The residence state grants a credit for tax paid to the source state, limited to the residence state's own liability on that income. Net combined liability therefore equals the greater of the two liabilities rather than their sum, $1,885 at the reference salary, and the split between the two treasuries is the only thing the credit changes.
Does changing residence reduce combined liability while the work state is unchanged?
No, while the source state is unchanged. North Carolina's claim arises from where the services are performed and is unaffected by residence. Because the residence credit is capped at the residence state's own liability, combined liability equals the greater of the two — so substituting a lower-tax residence reduces the residence-state component toward zero while leaving the total at North Carolina's level. The binding variable is the work location, not the home one.
What filing obligations arise in each state on this corridor?
Generally two. South Carolina requires a resident return reporting all income; North Carolina requires a non-resident return reporting the income sourced to it, which is also the mechanism by which the resident credit is substantiated. ⚠️ A filing obligation is distinct from a liability: a reciprocity exemption or a zero net position removes tax without necessarily removing the return, and the non-resident return is frequently what establishes the credit claimed on the resident one.
How do remote working days affect sourcing between these two states?
Ordinarily wages are sourced to where the services are performed, so days worked remotely from South Carolina fall outside North Carolina's jurisdiction and the source-state apportionment shrinks accordingly. ⛔ The exception is the "convenience of the employer" rule, which several states apply: a non-resident's remote days are sourced to the employer's location unless the remote work is required by the employer rather than chosen by the employee. The figures on this page model in-person attendance in North Carolina throughout.