File Clerks in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,313
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$6,037
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,753
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
$39,350
Kept after tax
$33,313
Worth in national money
$35,753
State rank
37
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for file clerks is on the low side in South Carolina. The middle earner gets $39,350. That is 37 of 49 states, and about 9.75% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 492 occupations South Carolina publishes, file clerks lands at 389. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- South Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $39,350 the take-home is $33,313; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $35,753 would nationally. The average comes to $40,810, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For file clerks, South Carolina sits in the lower band at $39,350, ranking 37 of 49 and trailing the national median by about 9.75%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within South Carolina, this work ranks 389 of 492 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for file clerks in South Carolina, on $39,350, is $33,313 — equivalent to $35,753 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 $40,810 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: File Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,800 |
| This salary | $39,350 |
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 | $33,313 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,798 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$972 |
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 | $38,747 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,176 |
| 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 $39,350. The published range is $27,710 up to $56,800, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $33,313, from $39,350, 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 389 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,753 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 389.
- Reported values are medians; for file clerks in South Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $27,710 to $56,800. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for South Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $33,313 from $39,350. 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 389 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,753, worked from $39,350, 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 389 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 $40,810 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $27,710 and the top tenth $56,800 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $35,753 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 $33,313.
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 $40,810. 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 ($27,710) and the ninetieth ($56,800) 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 $35,753 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 $33,313 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.