Buyers and Purchasing Agents in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,286
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$16,264
21.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$63,627
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
$75,550
Kept after tax
$59,286
Worth in national money
$63,627
State rank
26
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Carolina sits in the middle of the pack for buyers and purchasing agents. The median is $75,550, ranking 26 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Buyers and purchasing agents ranks 127 among 492 occupations South Carolina publishes pay for.
- South Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $75,550 the take-home is $59,286; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $63,627 would nationally. The average comes to $81,310, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- South Carolina occupies the middle band for buyers and purchasing agents: a median of $75,550, ranking 26 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 127 of 492 in South Carolina places buyers and purchasing agents 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 buyers and purchasing agents in South Carolina, on $75,550, is $59,286 — equivalent to $63,627 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 $81,310 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Buyers and Purchasing Agents
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $75,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $123,340 |
| This salary | $75,550 |
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 | $59,286 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,979 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$154 |
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 | $71,721 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$213 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in South Carolina earn less than $75,550. The published range is $45,700 up to $123,340, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Carolina's $59,286, worked from $75,550. 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 127 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 $63,627, the adjusted value of that $75,550 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 127 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for buyers and purchasing agents in South Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,700 to $123,340. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The South Carolina take-home of $59,286, on $75,550 for work ranking 127 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 127 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $63,627 — the adjusted value of that $75,550 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 127 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 $81,310 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $45,700 and the top tenth $123,340 — 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 $63,627 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $59,286 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $81,310. 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 ($45,700) and the ninetieth ($123,340) 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 $63,627 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 $59,286 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.