Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,299
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$5,481
14.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,591
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
$36,780
Kept after tax
$31,299
Worth in national money
$33,591
State rank
38
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Carolina is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $36,780, ranking 38 of 50 states — about 6.36% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in South Carolina, this one sits low: 417 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $36,780 you keep $31,299, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $33,591 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $39,660, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Carolina ranks 38 of 50 for mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service, with a median of $36,780 — about 6.36% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service occupies position 417 of 492 in South Carolina's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service on $36,780 is $31,299. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $33,591 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $39,660 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $51,540 |
| This salary | $36,780 |
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 | $31,299 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,733 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$936 |
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 | $36,241 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,132 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,780 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,630 and the ninetieth is $51,540 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Carolina's $31,299, worked from $36,780. 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 417 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 $33,591, the adjusted value of that $36,780 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 417 of 492 in the state.
- The South Carolina median of $36,780 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,630 to $51,540. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The South Carolina take-home of $31,299, on $36,780 for work ranking 417 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 417 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $33,591 — the adjusted value of that $36,780 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 417 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 $39,660 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $31,630 and the top tenth $51,540, 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 $33,591 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, $31,299 remains.
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.
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 $39,660. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,630 to $51,540) 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 $33,591 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 $31,299 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.