Construction and Building Inspectors in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,873
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$10,967
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,378
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
$58,840
Kept after tax
$47,873
Worth in national money
$51,378
State rank
49
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Carolina is among the lower-paying states for construction and building inspectors. The middle earner takes $58,840, ranking 49 of 51 states — about 21.22% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Construction and building inspectors ranks 218 among 492 occupations South Carolina publishes pay for.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $58,840 you keep $47,873, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $51,378 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $60,040, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Carolina ranks 49 of 51 for construction and building inspectors, with a median of $58,840 — about 21.22% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Position 218 of 492 in South Carolina places construction and building inspectors 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.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for construction and building inspectors on $58,840 is $47,873. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $51,378 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 $60,040 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Construction and Building Inspectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $84,860 |
| This salary | $58,840 |
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 | $47,873 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,458 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$482 |
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 | $56,867 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$583 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $58,840 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,140 and the ninetieth is $84,860 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $47,873 take-home in South Carolina comes from $58,840. 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 218 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 $51,378, the adjusted value of that $58,840 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 218 of 492 in the state.
- The South Carolina median of $58,840 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,140 to $84,860. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $47,873, from $58,840, 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 218 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 49 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $51,378 — the adjusted value of that $58,840 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 218 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 $36,140 and the top tenth $84,860 — 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 $51,378 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $47,873 remains.
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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($36,140) and the ninetieth ($84,860) 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 $51,378 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 $47,873 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.