Detectives and Criminal Investigators in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,762
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$11,998
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,479
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
$62,760
Kept after tax
$50,762
Worth in national money
$54,479
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Carolina pays this job a middle wage of $62,760, 48 of 51 states and about 33.08% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations South Carolina reports figures for, this is number 180.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $62,760 you keep $50,762, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $54,479 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $77,020, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Carolina's $62,760 median for detectives and criminal investigators places it 48 of 51 states, about 33.08% 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.
- In South Carolina's occupational distribution, detectives and criminal investigators sits at 180 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for detectives and criminal investigators on $62,760 is $50,762. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $54,479 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 $77,020 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Detectives and Criminal Investigators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,960 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,760 |
| Top tenth earn over | $149,280 |
| This salary | $62,760 |
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 | $50,762 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,608 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$342 |
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 | $60,463 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$414 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $62,760 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $50,960 and the ninetieth is $149,280 — 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 $50,762, worked from $62,760. 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 180 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 $54,479, the adjusted value of that $62,760 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 180 of 492 in the state.
- The South Carolina median of $62,760 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $50,960 to $149,280. 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 $50,762, on $62,760 for work ranking 180 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 180 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $54,479 — the adjusted value of that $62,760 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 180 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $77,020, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $50,960, the highest tenth $149,280, 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 $54,479 in national terms.
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, $50,762 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $77,020. 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 ($50,960) and the ninetieth ($149,280) 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 $54,479 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 $50,762 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.
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.