Mechanical Engineers in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,919
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$26,661
25.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$83,625
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
$104,580
Kept after tax
$77,919
Worth in national money
$83,625
State rank
18
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. South Carolina pays mechanical engineers around $104,580 at the midpoint, 18 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within South Carolina this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, mechanical engineers ranks 40 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $104,580 you keep $77,919 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $83,625 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $113,690, since top earners drag the number up.
- For mechanical engineers the South Carolina median is $104,580, ranking 18 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation South Carolina publishes a median for, mechanical engineers sits 40 of 492 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Retained pay in South Carolina is $77,919 after the full tax stack, from $104,580. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $83,625 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $113,690 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $74,260 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $104,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $166,340 |
| This salary | $104,580 |
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 | $77,919 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,402 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,172 |
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 | $98,208 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,619 |
| 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 mechanical engineers in South Carolina earn under $104,580 and half over. The published range runs $74,260 at the tenth percentile to $166,340 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 $77,919, worked from $104,580. 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 40 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $83,625 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 40.
- Figures are distribution medians for mechanical engineers in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $74,260 to $166,340; 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 $77,919, on $104,580 for work ranking 40 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 40 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $83,625, worked from $104,580, 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 40 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $113,690, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $74,260 and the top tenth $166,340 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $83,625 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $77,919 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $113,690. 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 ($74,260) and the ninetieth ($166,340) 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 $83,625 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 $77,919 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.