Forest and Conservation Technicians in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,713
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$10,197
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,060
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
$55,910
Kept after tax
$45,713
Worth in national money
$49,060
State rank
15
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Carolina is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $55,910, which ranks 15 of 45 states with published figures. That is about 2.47% above the national middle.
- Against other work in South Carolina, this sits in the middle: 239 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $55,910 you keep $45,713, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $49,060 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $59,070, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Carolina ranks 15 of 45 states publishing a median for forest and conservation technicians, at $55,910 — about 2.47% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Forest and conservation technicians ranks 239 of 492 occupations in South Carolina by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for forest and conservation technicians on $55,910 is $45,713. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $49,060 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 $59,070 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Forest and Conservation Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $55,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $84,120 |
| This salary | $55,910 |
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 | $45,713 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,104 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$587 |
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 | $54,179 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$710 |
| 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 forest and conservation technicians in South Carolina earn under $55,910 and half over. The published range runs $40,800 at the tenth percentile to $84,120 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $45,713, from $55,910, 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 239 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 $49,060 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 239.
- Figures are distribution medians for forest and conservation technicians in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $40,800 to $84,120; 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 $45,713 from $55,910. 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 239 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $49,060, worked from $55,910, 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 239 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $59,070, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $40,800 and the top tenth $84,120 — 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 $49,060.
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, $45,713 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 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 $59,070. 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 ($40,800) and the ninetieth ($84,120) 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 $49,060 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 $45,713 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.