Medical Transcriptionists in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,019
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$4,851
14.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,144
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
$33,870
Kept after tax
$29,019
Worth in national money
$31,144
State rank
47
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for medical transcriptionists is on the low side in South Carolina. The middle earner gets $33,870. That is 47 of 50 states, and about 16.18% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 492 occupations South Carolina publishes, medical transcriptionists lands at 448. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- South Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $33,870 the take-home is $29,019; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $31,144 would nationally. The average comes to $37,530, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For medical transcriptionists, South Carolina sits in the lower band at $33,870, ranking 47 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 16.18%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within South Carolina, this work ranks 448 of 492 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Post-tax income for medical transcriptionists in South Carolina, on $33,870, is $29,019 — equivalent to $31,144 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 $37,530 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Medical Transcriptionists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,020 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $33,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,360 |
| This salary | $33,870 |
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 | $29,019 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,395 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$895 |
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 | $33,403 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,082 |
| 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 medical transcriptionists in South Carolina earn under $33,870 and half over. The published range runs $29,020 at the tenth percentile to $48,360 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $29,019 take-home in South Carolina comes from $33,870. 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 448 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $31,144 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 448.
- Figures are distribution medians for medical transcriptionists in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,020 to $48,360; 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.
- Retained pay of $29,019, from $33,870, 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 448 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 47 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $31,144, worked from $33,870, 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 448 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 $37,530, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $29,020 and the top tenth $48,360, so most people doing this work in South Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $31,144.
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 $29,019.
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 $37,530. 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 ($29,020 to $48,360) 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 $31,144 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 $29,019 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.