Cooks, Restaurant in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,484
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$5,256
14.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,717
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
$35,740
Kept after tax
$30,484
Worth in national money
$32,717
State rank
37
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Carolina pays cooks, restaurant a middle wage of $35,740, 37 of 51 states and about 4.41% 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, cooks, restaurant ranks 431. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $35,740 you keep $30,484 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $32,717 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $35,610.
- South Carolina's $35,740 median for cooks, restaurant places it 37 of 51 states, about 4.41% 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, cooks, restaurant ranks 431 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.
- Retained pay in South Carolina is $30,484 after the full tax stack, from $35,740. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $32,717 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $35,610 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Cooks, Restaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,680 |
| This salary | $35,740 |
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 | $30,484 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,897 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$921 |
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 | $35,226 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,114 |
| 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 $35,740. The published range is $26,200 up to $45,680, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $30,484, from $35,740, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 431 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $32,717 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 431.
- Reported values are medians; for cooks, restaurant in South Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $26,200 to $45,680. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for South Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $30,484 from $35,740. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 431 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $32,717, worked from $35,740, 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 431 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $26,200 at the tenth percentile, $45,680 at the ninetieth.
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 $32,717.
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 $30,484 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($26,200 to $45,680) 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 $32,717 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 $30,484 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.