Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$43,449
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$9,391
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,631
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
$52,840
Kept after tax
$43,449
Worth in national money
$46,631
State rank
23
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. South Carolina is 23 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $52,840. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in South Carolina, this sits in the middle: 251 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $52,840 you keep $43,449 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $46,631 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $52,270.
- South Carolina ranks 23 of 50 for legal secretaries and administrative assistants at $52,840. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Legal secretaries and administrative assistants ranks 251 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.
- Retained pay in South Carolina is $43,449 after the full tax stack, from $52,840. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $46,631 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $52,270 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Legal Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,190 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $67,740 |
| This salary | $52,840 |
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 | $43,449 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,637 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$696 |
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 | $51,362 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$842 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in South Carolina earn less than $52,840. The published range is $34,190 up to $67,740, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $43,449, from $52,840, 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 251 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 $46,631 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 251.
- Reported values are medians; for legal secretaries and administrative assistants in South Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $34,190 to $67,740. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for South Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $43,449 from $52,840. 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 251 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $46,631, worked from $52,840, 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 251 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $34,190 and the top tenth $67,740, so most people doing this work in South Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $46,631.
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 $43,449.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($34,190 to $67,740) 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 $46,631 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 $43,449 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.