Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,038
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$16,122
21.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,361
South Carolina costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in South Carolina — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$75,160
Kept after tax
$59,038
Worth in national money
$63,361
State rank
33
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. South Carolina pays this job around $75,160 at the midpoint, 33 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 132 among 492 occupations South Carolina publishes pay for.
- South Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $75,160 the take-home is $59,038; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $63,361 would nationally. The average lands at $70,460, below the middle of the range.
- For aircraft mechanics and service technicians the South Carolina median is $75,160, ranking 33 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Position 132 of 492 in South Carolina places aircraft mechanics and service technicians in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for aircraft mechanics and service technicians in South Carolina, on $75,160, is $59,038 — equivalent to $63,361 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $70,460 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,230 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $75,160 |
| Top tenth earn over | $84,600 |
| This salary | $75,160 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in South Carolina | $59,038 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,705 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$138 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $71,368 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$191 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of aircraft mechanics and service technicians in South Carolina earn under $75,160 and half over. The published range runs $45,230 at the tenth percentile to $84,600 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $59,038 take-home in South Carolina comes from $75,160. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 132 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of South Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $63,361, the adjusted value of that $75,160 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 132 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for aircraft mechanics and service technicians in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $45,230 to $84,600; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $59,038, from $75,160, assumes a single South Carolina filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 132 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $63,361 — the adjusted value of that $75,160 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 132 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $70,460, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $45,230 and the top tenth $84,600, so most people doing this work in South Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $63,361.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and South Carolina adds its own income tax on top — which is why $59,038 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in South Carolina is $70,460. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($45,230 to $84,600) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to South Carolina rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
South Carolina's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $63,361 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $59,038 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and South Carolina income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.