Atmospheric and Space Scientists in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,548
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$18,692
22.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$68,202
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
$82,240
Kept after tax
$63,548
Worth in national money
$68,202
State rank
37
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Carolina pays atmospheric and space scientists a middle wage of $82,240, 37 of 47 states and about 16.99% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within South Carolina this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, atmospheric and space scientists ranks 90 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- South Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $82,240 the take-home is $63,548; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $68,202 would nationally. The average comes to $93,390, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- South Carolina's $82,240 median for atmospheric and space scientists places it 37 of 47 states, about 16.99% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Ranked against every occupation South Carolina publishes a median for, atmospheric and space scientists sits 90 of 492 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for atmospheric and space scientists in South Carolina, on $82,240, is $63,548 — equivalent to $68,202 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 $93,390 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Atmospheric and Space Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $82,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $136,990 |
| This salary | $82,240 |
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 | $63,548 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $66,686 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$423 |
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 | $77,780 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$584 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $82,240 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $60,200 and the ninetieth is $136,990 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Carolina's $63,548, worked from $82,240. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 90 of 492.
- Two cautions on $68,202, the adjusted value of that $82,240 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of South Carolina. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 90 of 492 locally.
- The South Carolina median of $82,240 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $60,200 to $136,990. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The South Carolina take-home of $63,548, on $82,240 for work ranking 90 of 492 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 90 of 492 in the state.
- This $68,202 adjusted figure, worked from $82,240, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 90 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 90 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 $93,390, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $60,200 and the top tenth $136,990 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in South Carolina sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $68,202 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; South Carolina then takes its own share, leaving $63,548.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $93,390. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($60,200) and the ninetieth ($136,990) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $68,202 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 $63,548 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.