Maintenance Workers, Machinery in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,347
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$12,563
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$56,180
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
$64,910
Kept after tax
$52,347
Worth in national money
$56,180
State rank
9
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for maintenance workers, machinery is strong here. South Carolina's middle earner gets $64,910, putting the state 9 of 46 — about 6.67% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations South Carolina reports figures for, this is number 160.
- South Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $64,910 the take-home is $52,347; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $56,180 would nationally. The average lands at $64,340, below the middle of the range.
- For maintenance workers, machinery, South Carolina sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $64,910, ranking 9 of 46 and running about 6.67% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In South Carolina's occupational distribution, maintenance workers, machinery sits at 160 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.
- Post-tax income for maintenance workers, machinery in South Carolina, on $64,910, is $52,347 — equivalent to $56,180 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 $64,340 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Maintenance Workers, Machinery
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,060 |
| This salary | $64,910 |
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 | $52,347 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,335 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$266 |
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 | $62,436 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$321 |
| 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 maintenance workers, machinery in South Carolina earn under $64,910 and half over. The published range runs $46,760 at the tenth percentile to $79,060 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Carolina's $52,347, worked from $64,910. 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 160 of 492.
- Two cautions on $56,180, the adjusted value of that $64,910 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 160 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for maintenance workers, machinery in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $46,760 to $79,060; 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.
- The South Carolina take-home of $52,347, on $64,910 for work ranking 160 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 160 of 492 in the state.
- This $56,180 adjusted figure, worked from $64,910, 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 160 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 160 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $46,760 and the top tenth $79,060, so most people doing this work in South Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in South Carolina sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $56,180 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $52,347.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($46,760 to $79,060) 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 $56,180 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 $52,347 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.