Emergency Medical Technicians in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,110
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$6,260
15.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,608
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
$40,370
Kept after tax
$34,110
Worth in national money
$36,608
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. South Carolina is 30 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $40,370. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within South Carolina this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 377. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- South Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $40,370 the take-home is $34,110; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $36,608 would nationally. The average comes to $41,940, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- South Carolina ranks 30 of 51 for emergency medical technicians at $40,370. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation South Carolina reports, emergency medical technicians ranks 377 of 492, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Post-tax income for emergency medical technicians in South Carolina, on $40,370, is $34,110 — equivalent to $36,608 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 $41,940 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Emergency Medical Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,210 |
| This salary | $40,370 |
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 | $34,110 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,617 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$985 |
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 | $39,739 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,191 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of emergency medical technicians in South Carolina earn under $40,370 and half over. The published range runs $31,590 at the tenth percentile to $49,210 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $34,110, from $40,370, 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 377 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $36,608, the adjusted value of that $40,370 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 377 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for emergency medical technicians in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,590 to $49,210; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for South Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $34,110 from $40,370. 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 377 of 492 locally.
- This $36,608 adjusted figure, worked from $40,370, 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 377 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 377 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 $41,940 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $31,590 at the tenth percentile, $49,210 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 $36,608 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $34,110 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 $41,940. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,590 to $49,210) 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 $36,608 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 $34,110 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.