Museum Technicians and Conservators in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,483
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$5,807
15.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,861
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
$38,290
Kept after tax
$32,483
Worth in national money
$34,861
State rank
42
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in South Carolina. The middle earner gets $38,290. That is 42 of 45 states, and about 25.56% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 492 occupations South Carolina publishes, this job lands at 402. 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 $38,290 the take-home is $32,483; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $34,861 would nationally. The average comes to $42,010, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For museum technicians and conservators, South Carolina sits in the lower band at $38,290, ranking 42 of 45 and trailing the national median by about 25.56%. 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 402 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 museum technicians and conservators in South Carolina, on $38,290, is $32,483 — equivalent to $34,861 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 $42,010 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Museum Technicians and Conservators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,680 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,290 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,050 |
| This salary | $38,290 |
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 | $32,483 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,946 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$957 |
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 | $37,713 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,158 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $38,290 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,680 and the ninetieth is $56,050 — 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 $32,483, worked from $38,290. 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 402 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,861 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 402.
- The South Carolina median of $38,290 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,680 to $56,050. 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 $32,483, on $38,290 for work ranking 402 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 402 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,861, worked from $38,290, 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 402 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 $42,010, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $30,680 at the bottom tenth to $56,050 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 $34,861.
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, $32,483 remains.
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 $42,010. 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 ($30,680 to $56,050) 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 $34,861 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 $32,483 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.