Occupational Therapy Assistants in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,132
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$15,608
21.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$62,389
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
$73,740
Kept after tax
$58,132
Worth in national money
$62,389
State rank
15
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. South Carolina pays this job a middle wage of $73,740, ranking 15 of 50 states and sitting about 1.99% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations South Carolina reports figures for, this is number 137.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $73,740 you keep $58,132 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $62,389 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $70,480.
- South Carolina's median for occupational therapy assistants is $73,740, about 1.99% above the national figure and 15 of 50 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In South Carolina's occupational distribution, occupational therapy assistants sits at 137 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in South Carolina is $58,132 after the full tax stack, from $73,740. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $62,389 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $70,480 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Occupational Therapy Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,050 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $73,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $87,860 |
| This salary | $73,740 |
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 | $58,132 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,706 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$82 |
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 | $70,082 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$113 |
| 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 occupational therapy assistants in South Carolina earn under $73,740 and half over. The published range runs $52,050 at the tenth percentile to $87,860 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $58,132, from $73,740, 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 137 of 492 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of South Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $62,389, the adjusted value of that $73,740 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 137 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for occupational therapy assistants in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $52,050 to $87,860; 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.
- Take-home for South Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $58,132 from $73,740. 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 137 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $62,389 — the adjusted value of that $73,740 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 137 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 $70,480 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 $52,050 at the bottom tenth to $87,860 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $62,389 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $58,132 remains.
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 $70,480. 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 ($52,050 to $87,860) 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 $62,389 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 $58,132 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.