Cooks, Short Order in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,704
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$3,936
13.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,587
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
$29,640
Kept after tax
$25,704
Worth in national money
$27,587
State rank
38
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Carolina pays cooks, short order a middle wage of $29,640, 38 of 49 states and about 17.39% 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, short order ranks 476. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $29,640 you keep $25,704, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $27,587 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $29,340, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- South Carolina's $29,640 median for cooks, short order places it 38 of 49 states, about 17.39% 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, short order ranks 476 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.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for cooks, short order on $29,640 is $25,704. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $27,587 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 $29,340 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Cooks, Short Order
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,640 |
| Top tenth earn over | $34,480 |
| This salary | $29,640 |
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 | $25,704 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,996 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$835 |
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 | $29,277 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,010 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $29,640 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $22,670 and the ninetieth is $34,480 — 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 $25,704, worked from $29,640. 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 476 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 $27,587, the adjusted value of that $29,640 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 476 of 492 in the state.
- The South Carolina median of $29,640 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $22,670 to $34,480. 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 $25,704, on $29,640 for work ranking 476 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 476 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $27,587 — the adjusted value of that $29,640 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 476 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $22,670 and the top tenth $34,480, so most people doing this work in South Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $27,587 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, $25,704 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($22,670 to $34,480) 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 $27,587 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 $25,704 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.