Electrical Engineers in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,920
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$24,520
24.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$79,333
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
$98,440
Kept after tax
$73,920
Worth in national money
$79,333
State rank
47
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for electrical engineers is on the low side in South Carolina. The middle earner gets $98,440. That is 47 of 49 states, and about 18.4% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 492 occupations South Carolina reports, electrical engineers comes in at 57 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $98,440 you keep $73,920, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $79,333 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $104,580, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For electrical engineers, South Carolina sits in the lower band at $98,440, ranking 47 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 18.4%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Electrical engineers ranks 57 of 492 occupations by median in South Carolina, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for electrical engineers on $98,440 is $73,920. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $79,333 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 $104,580 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Electrical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $69,260 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $98,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $156,330 |
| This salary | $98,440 |
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 | $73,920 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,083 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,020 |
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 | $92,523 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,409 |
| 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 $98,440. The published range is $69,260 up to $156,330, 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 $73,920, worked from $98,440. 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 57 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 $79,333, the adjusted value of that $98,440 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 57 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for electrical engineers in South Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $69,260 to $156,330. 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 $73,920, on $98,440 for work ranking 57 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 57 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $79,333 — the adjusted value of that $98,440 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 57 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 $104,580 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 $69,260 at the bottom tenth to $156,330 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $79,333 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, $73,920 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $104,580. 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 ($69,260) and the ninetieth ($156,330) 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 $79,333 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 $73,920 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.