Baggage Porters and Bellhops in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$22,682
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$3,168
12.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$24,342
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
$25,850
Kept after tax
$22,682
Worth in national money
$24,342
State rank
45
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Carolina pays baggage porters and bellhops a middle wage of $25,850, 45 of 48 states and about 30.29% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within South Carolina this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, baggage porters and bellhops ranks 489. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- South Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $25,850 the take-home is $22,682; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $24,342 would nationally. The average comes to $26,260, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- South Carolina's $25,850 median for baggage porters and bellhops places it 45 of 48 states, about 30.29% 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.
- Against every occupation South Carolina reports, baggage porters and bellhops ranks 489 of 492, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Post-tax income for baggage porters and bellhops in South Carolina, on $25,850, is $22,682 — equivalent to $24,342 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 $26,260 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Baggage Porters and Bellhops
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $15,080 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $25,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $36,860 |
| This salary | $25,850 |
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 | $22,682 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $22,897 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$779 |
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 | $25,588 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$920 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $25,850 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $15,080 and the ninetieth is $36,860 — 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 $22,682, worked from $25,850. 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 489 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $24,342 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 489.
- The South Carolina median of $25,850 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $15,080 to $36,860. 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 $22,682, on $25,850 for work ranking 489 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 489 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $24,342, worked from $25,850, 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 489 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $15,080 and the top tenth $36,860 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $24,342.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and South Carolina's own levy, $22,682 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 48 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($15,080) and the ninetieth ($36,860) 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 $24,342 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 $22,682 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.