Crane and Tower Operators in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,765
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$12,355
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,556
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
$64,120
Kept after tax
$51,765
Worth in national money
$55,556
State rank
31
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. South Carolina is 31 of 50 states for crane and tower operators, with a middle wage of $64,120. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in South Carolina, this sits in the middle: 166 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $64,120 you keep $51,765, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $55,556 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $65,890, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Carolina ranks 31 of 50 for crane and tower operators at $64,120. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Crane and tower operators ranks 166 of 492 occupations in South Carolina by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for crane and tower operators on $64,120 is $51,765. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $55,556 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 $65,890 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Crane and Tower Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,420 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $89,440 |
| This salary | $64,120 |
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 | $51,765 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,700 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$294 |
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 | $61,711 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$356 |
| 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 $64,120. The published range is $45,420 up to $89,440, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $51,765, from $64,120, 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 166 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $55,556, the adjusted value of that $64,120 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 166 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for crane and tower operators in South Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,420 to $89,440. 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 $51,765 from $64,120. 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 166 of 492 locally.
- This $55,556 adjusted figure, worked from $64,120, 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 166 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 166 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $45,420 at the tenth percentile, $89,440 at the ninetieth.
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 $55,556 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $51,765 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 ($45,420 to $89,440) 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 $55,556 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 $51,765 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.