News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,837
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$8,103
16.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,754
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
$47,940
Kept after tax
$39,837
Worth in national money
$42,754
State rank
30
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. South Carolina is 30 of 48 states for this job, with a middle wage of $47,940. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in South Carolina, this sits in the middle: 297 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $47,940 you keep $39,837 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $42,754 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $61,420, since top earners drag the number up.
- South Carolina ranks 30 of 48 for news analysts, reporters, and journalists at $47,940. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- News analysts, reporters, and journalists ranks 297 of 492 occupations in South Carolina by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Retained pay in South Carolina is $39,837 after the full tax stack, from $47,940. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $42,754 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $61,420 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,070 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,940 |
| Top tenth earn over | $109,330 |
| This salary | $47,940 |
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 | $39,837 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,700 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$871 |
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 | $46,866 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,054 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $47,940 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,070 and the ninetieth is $109,330 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $39,837, from $47,940, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 297 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $42,754 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 297.
- The South Carolina median of $47,940 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,070 to $109,330. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for South Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $39,837 from $47,940. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 297 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $42,754, worked from $47,940, 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 297 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 $61,420, 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 $37,070 and the top tenth $109,330 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $42,754.
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 $39,837.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $61,420. 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 ($37,070) and the ninetieth ($109,330) 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 $42,754 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 $39,837 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.