Materials Engineers in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$89,013
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$32,597
26.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$95,531
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
$121,610
Kept after tax
$89,013
Worth in national money
$95,531
State rank
13
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. South Carolina pays materials engineers a middle wage of $121,610, ranking 13 of 45 states and sitting about 7.75% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in South Carolina. It ranks 26 out of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $121,610 you keep $89,013, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $95,531 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $116,020, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- South Carolina's median for materials engineers is $121,610, about 7.75% above the national figure and 13 of 45 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within South Carolina, materials engineers ranks 26 of 492 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for materials engineers on $121,610 is $89,013. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $95,531 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 $116,020 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Materials Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $75,550 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $121,610 |
| Top tenth earn over | $158,940 |
| This salary | $121,610 |
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 | $89,013 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $94,383 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,596 |
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 | $113,977 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,204 |
| 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 $121,610. The published range is $75,550 up to $158,940, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $89,013 take-home in South Carolina comes from $121,610. 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 26 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 $95,531, the adjusted value of that $121,610 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 26 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for materials engineers in South Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $75,550 to $158,940. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $89,013, from $121,610, 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 26 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 13 of 45 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $95,531 — the adjusted value of that $121,610 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 26 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 $116,020 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $75,550 at the bottom tenth to $158,940 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $95,531.
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 $89,013 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $116,020. 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 ($75,550 to $158,940) 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 $95,531 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 $89,013 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.