Clinical and Counseling Psychologists in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$70,214
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$22,486
24.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,355
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
$92,700
Kept after tax
$70,214
Worth in national money
$75,355
State rank
26
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. South Carolina pays this job around $92,700 at the midpoint, 26 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 492 occupations South Carolina reports, this job comes in at 69 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $92,700 you keep $70,214, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $75,355 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $91,790, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For clinical and counseling psychologists the South Carolina median is $92,700, ranking 26 of 48 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.
- Clinical and counseling psychologists ranks 69 of 492 occupations by median in South Carolina, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for clinical and counseling psychologists on $92,700 is $70,214. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $75,355 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 $91,790 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Clinical and Counseling Psychologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $92,700 |
| Top tenth earn over | $131,420 |
| This salary | $92,700 |
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 | $70,214 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $74,044 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$842 |
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 | $87,255 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,163 |
| 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 clinical and counseling psychologists in South Carolina earn under $92,700 and half over. The published range runs $59,600 at the tenth percentile to $131,420 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $70,214 take-home in South Carolina comes from $92,700. 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 69 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $75,355 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 69.
- Figures are distribution medians for clinical and counseling psychologists in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $59,600 to $131,420; 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 $70,214, from $92,700, 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 69 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 26 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $75,355, worked from $92,700, 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 69 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $59,600, the highest tenth $131,420, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $75,355.
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 $70,214 of this wage survives to your account.
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 ($59,600) and the ninetieth ($131,420) 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 $75,355 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 $70,214 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.