Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,688
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$5,312
14.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,935
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
$36,000
Kept after tax
$30,688
Worth in national money
$32,935
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. South Carolina is 24 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $36,000. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against 492 occupations South Carolina publishes, this job lands at 428. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $36,000 you keep $30,688, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $32,935 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $38,100, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Carolina ranks 24 of 51 for automotive and watercraft service attendants at $36,000. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within South Carolina, this work ranks 428 of 492 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for automotive and watercraft service attendants on $36,000 is $30,688. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $32,935 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $38,100 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $52,590 |
| This salary | $36,000 |
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 | $30,688 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,106 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$925 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $35,480 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,119 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,000 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $26,760 and the ninetieth is $52,590 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $30,688 take-home in South Carolina comes from $36,000. 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 428 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $32,935 uses one figure for the whole of South Carolina. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 428.
- The South Carolina median of $36,000 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $26,760 to $52,590. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $30,688, from $36,000, 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 428 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 24 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $32,935, worked from $36,000, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular South Carolina address, on work sitting at 428 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $38,100 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $26,760 at the tenth percentile, $52,590 at the ninetieth.
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 $32,935 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 $30,688.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $38,100. 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 ($26,760 to $52,590) 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 $32,935 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 $30,688 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.