Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,002
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$4,018
13.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,906
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
$30,020
Kept after tax
$26,002
Worth in national money
$27,906
State rank
39
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks is on the low side in South Carolina. The middle earner gets $30,020. That is 39 of 51 states, and about 14.4% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 492 occupations South Carolina publishes, hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks lands at 472. 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 $30,020 the take-home is $26,002; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $27,906 would nationally. The average comes to $30,570, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks, South Carolina sits in the lower band at $30,020, ranking 39 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 14.4%. 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 472 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 hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks in South Carolina, on $30,020, is $26,002 — equivalent to $27,906 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 $30,570 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $20,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $38,130 |
| This salary | $30,020 |
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 | $26,002 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,301 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$841 |
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 | $29,648 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,017 |
| 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 hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks in South Carolina earn under $30,020 and half over. The published range runs $20,510 at the tenth percentile to $38,130 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $26,002 take-home in South Carolina comes from $30,020. 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 472 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of South Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $27,906, the adjusted value of that $30,020 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 472 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $20,510 to $38,130; 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 $26,002, from $30,020, 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 472 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 39 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $27,906 — the adjusted value of that $30,020 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 472 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $20,510 at the tenth percentile, $38,130 at the ninetieth.
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 $27,906.
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 $26,002.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($20,510 to $38,130) 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 $27,906 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 $26,002 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.