Insurance Underwriters in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,847
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$17,723
22.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,376
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
$79,570
Kept after tax
$61,847
Worth in national money
$66,376
State rank
24
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. South Carolina pays insurance underwriters around $79,570 at the midpoint, 24 of 49 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within South Carolina this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, insurance underwriters ranks 102 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- South Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $79,570 the take-home is $61,847; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $66,376 would nationally. The average comes to $87,610, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For insurance underwriters the South Carolina median is $79,570, ranking 24 of 49 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation South Carolina publishes a median for, insurance underwriters sits 102 of 492 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Post-tax income for insurance underwriters in South Carolina, on $79,570, is $61,847 — equivalent to $66,376 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 $87,610 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Insurance Underwriters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $51,020 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $79,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $134,950 |
| This salary | $79,570 |
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 | $61,847 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $64,807 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$315 |
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 | $75,362 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$436 |
| 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 insurance underwriters in South Carolina earn under $79,570 and half over. The published range runs $51,020 at the tenth percentile to $134,950 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $61,847 take-home in South Carolina comes from $79,570. 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 102 of 492.
- Two cautions on $66,376, the adjusted value of that $79,570 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of South Carolina. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 102 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for insurance underwriters in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $51,020 to $134,950; 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 $61,847, from $79,570, 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 102 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 24 of 49 for it.
- This $66,376 adjusted figure, worked from $79,570, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 102 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 102 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 $87,610, 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 $51,020 and the top tenth $134,950 — 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 $66,376.
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 $61,847 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 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 $87,610. 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 ($51,020) and the ninetieth ($134,950) 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 $66,376 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 $61,847 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.