Environmental Engineers in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$72,422
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$23,718
24.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$77,725
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
$96,140
Kept after tax
$72,422
Worth in national money
$77,725
State rank
36
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for environmental engineers is on the low side in South Carolina. The middle earner gets $96,140. That is 36 of 50 states, and about 10.24% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Within South Carolina this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, environmental engineers ranks 63 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $96,140 you keep $72,422, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $77,725 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $100,760, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For environmental engineers, South Carolina sits in the lower band at $96,140, ranking 36 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 10.24%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Ranked against every occupation South Carolina publishes a median for, environmental engineers sits 63 of 492 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for environmental engineers on $96,140 is $72,422. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $77,725 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 $100,760 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Environmental Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,740 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $96,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $149,340 |
| This salary | $96,140 |
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 | $72,422 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $76,464 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$963 |
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 | $90,393 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,330 |
| 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 environmental engineers in South Carolina earn under $96,140 and half over. The published range runs $47,740 at the tenth percentile to $149,340 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $72,422 take-home in South Carolina comes from $96,140. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 63 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $77,725 uses one figure for the whole of South Carolina. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 63.
- Figures are distribution medians for environmental engineers in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,740 to $149,340; 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.
- Retained pay of $72,422, from $96,140, assumes a single South Carolina filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 63 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 36 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $77,725, worked from $96,140, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular South Carolina address, on work sitting at 63 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 $100,760, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $47,740 and the top tenth $149,340 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $77,725.
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, $72,422 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $100,760. 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 ($47,740) and the ninetieth ($149,340) 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 $77,725 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 $72,422 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.