Home Health and Personal Care Aides in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,073
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$4,037
13.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,982
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
$30,110
Kept after tax
$26,073
Worth in national money
$27,982
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for home health and personal care aides is on the low side in South Carolina. The middle earner gets $30,110. That is 41 of 51 states, and about 15.89% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 492 occupations South Carolina publishes, home health and personal care aides lands at 471. 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 $30,110 the take-home is $26,073; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $27,982 would nationally. The average comes to $30,480, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For home health and personal care aides, South Carolina sits in the lower band at $30,110, ranking 41 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 15.89%. 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 471 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 home health and personal care aides in South Carolina, on $30,110, is $26,073 — equivalent to $27,982 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 $30,480 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Home Health and Personal Care Aides
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $35,590 |
| This salary | $30,110 |
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 | $26,073 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,373 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$842 |
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 | $29,736 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,018 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $30,110 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $23,600 and the ninetieth is $35,590 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $26,073, from $30,110, 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 471 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 $27,982 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 471.
- The South Carolina median of $30,110 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $23,600 to $35,590. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for South Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $26,073 from $30,110. 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 471 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $27,982, worked from $30,110, 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 471 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $23,600 and the top tenth $35,590, so most people doing this work in South Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $27,982 in national terms.
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, $26,073 remains.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($23,600 to $35,590) 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 $27,982 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 $26,073 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.