Locksmiths and Safe Repairers in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,820
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$7,740
16.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,663
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
$46,560
Kept after tax
$38,820
Worth in national money
$41,663
State rank
36
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Carolina pays locksmiths and safe repairers a middle wage of $46,560, 36 of 48 states and about 9.28% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations South Carolina reports figures for, this is number 322.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $46,560 you keep $38,820 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $41,663 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $51,230, since top earners drag the number up.
- South Carolina's $46,560 median for locksmiths and safe repairers places it 36 of 48 states, about 9.28% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- In South Carolina's occupational distribution, locksmiths and safe repairers sits at 322 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in South Carolina is $38,820 after the full tax stack, from $46,560. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $41,663 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $51,230 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Locksmiths and Safe Repairers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $25,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,910 |
| This salary | $46,560 |
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 | $38,820 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,591 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$921 |
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 | $45,600 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,113 |
| 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 $46,560. The published range is $25,570 up to $79,910, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Carolina's $38,820, worked from $46,560. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 322 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,663 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 322.
- Reported values are medians; for locksmiths and safe repairers in South Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $25,570 to $79,910. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The South Carolina take-home of $38,820, on $46,560 for work ranking 322 of 492 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 322 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,663, worked from $46,560, 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 322 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 $51,230 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $25,570 at the bottom tenth to $79,910 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $41,663.
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 $38,820 of this wage survives to your account.
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 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $51,230. 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 ($25,570) and the ninetieth ($79,910) 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 $41,663 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 $38,820 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.