Counter and Rental Clerks in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,738
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$5,602
15.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,062
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
$37,340
Kept after tax
$31,738
Worth in national money
$34,062
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Carolina pays counter and rental clerks a middle wage of $37,340, 40 of 51 states and about 9.59% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Against 492 occupations South Carolina publishes, counter and rental clerks lands at 409. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- South Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $37,340 the take-home is $31,738; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $34,062 would nationally. The average comes to $39,280, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- South Carolina's $37,340 median for counter and rental clerks places it 40 of 51 states, about 9.59% 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.
- Within South Carolina, this work ranks 409 of 492 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for counter and rental clerks in South Carolina, on $37,340, is $31,738 — equivalent to $34,062 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 $39,280 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Counter and Rental Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $25,730 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,340 |
| Top tenth earn over | $54,460 |
| This salary | $37,340 |
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 | $31,738 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,183 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$944 |
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 | $36,787 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,142 |
| 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 $37,340. The published range is $25,730 up to $54,460, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $31,738 take-home in South Carolina comes from $37,340. 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 409 of 492.
- Two cautions on $34,062, the adjusted value of that $37,340 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of South Carolina. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 409 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for counter and rental clerks in South Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $25,730 to $54,460. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $31,738, from $37,340, 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 409 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 51 for it.
- This $34,062 adjusted figure, worked from $37,340, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 409 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 409 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 $39,280 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $25,730 at the bottom tenth to $54,460 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $34,062 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; South Carolina then takes its own share, leaving $31,738.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $39,280. 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 ($25,730) and the ninetieth ($54,460) 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 $34,062 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 $31,738 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.