Graphic Designers in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,641
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$10,529
18.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,057
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
$57,170
Kept after tax
$46,641
Worth in national money
$50,057
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Carolina sits in the middle of the pack for graphic designers. The median is $57,170, ranking 33 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Graphic designers ranks 229 among 492 occupations South Carolina publishes pay for.
- South Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $57,170 the take-home is $46,641; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $50,057 would nationally. The average comes to $60,610, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- South Carolina occupies the middle band for graphic designers: a median of $57,170, ranking 33 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 229 of 492 in South Carolina places graphic designers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for graphic designers in South Carolina, on $57,170, is $46,641 — equivalent to $50,057 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 $60,610 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Graphic Designers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $90,000 |
| This salary | $57,170 |
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 | $46,641 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,116 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$542 |
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 | $55,334 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$655 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $57,170 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,190 and the ninetieth is $90,000 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $46,641 take-home in South Carolina comes from $57,170. 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 229 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $50,057 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 229.
- The South Carolina median of $57,170 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,190 to $90,000. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $46,641, from $57,170, 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 229 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $50,057, worked from $57,170, 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 229 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 $60,610 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 $37,190 and the top tenth $90,000 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $50,057 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and South Carolina adds its own income tax on top — which is why $46,641 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $60,610. 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 ($37,190) and the ninetieth ($90,000) 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 $50,057 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 $46,641 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.