Data Scientists in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$69,762
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$22,228
24.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,870
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
$91,990
Kept after tax
$69,762
Worth in national money
$74,870
State rank
39
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Carolina pays data scientists a middle wage of $91,990, 39 of 49 states and about 23.49% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in South Carolina. It ranks 71 out of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $91,990 you keep $69,762 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $74,870 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $102,830, since top earners drag the number up.
- South Carolina's $91,990 median for data scientists places it 39 of 49 states, about 23.49% 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, data scientists ranks 71 of 492 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay in South Carolina is $69,762 after the full tax stack, from $91,990. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $74,870 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $102,830 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Data Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $91,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $156,000 |
| This salary | $91,990 |
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 | $69,762 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $73,545 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$813 |
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 | $86,612 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,123 |
| 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 $91,990. The published range is $61,600 up to $156,000, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Carolina's $69,762, worked from $91,990. 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 71 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 $74,870, the adjusted value of that $91,990 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 71 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for data scientists in South Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $61,600 to $156,000. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The South Carolina take-home of $69,762, on $91,990 for work ranking 71 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 71 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $74,870 — the adjusted value of that $91,990 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 71 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $102,830, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $61,600, the highest tenth $156,000, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. South Carolina is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $74,870 in national terms.
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 $69,762.
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.
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 $102,830. 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 ($61,600) and the ninetieth ($156,000) 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 $74,870 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 $69,762 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.