Operations Research Analysts in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,274
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$17,966
22.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,834
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
$80,240
Kept after tax
$62,274
Worth in national money
$66,834
State rank
35
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for operations research analysts is on the low side in South Carolina. The middle earner gets $80,240. That is 35 of 47 states, and about 9.78% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in South Carolina. It ranks 97 out of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $80,240 you keep $62,274, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $66,834 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $87,170, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For operations research analysts, South Carolina sits in the lower band at $80,240, ranking 35 of 47 and trailing the national median by about 9.78%. 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, operations research analysts ranks 97 of 492 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for operations research analysts on $80,240 is $62,274. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $66,834 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $87,170 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Operations Research Analysts
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,500 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,240 |
| Top tenth earn over | $125,700 |
| This salary | $80,240 |
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 | $62,274 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,279 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$342 |
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 | $75,969 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$473 |
| 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 operations research analysts in South Carolina earn under $80,240 and half over. The published range runs $52,500 at the tenth percentile to $125,700 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $62,274, from $80,240, 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 97 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 $66,834, the adjusted value of that $80,240 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 97 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for operations research analysts in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $52,500 to $125,700; 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 $62,274 from $80,240. 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 97 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $66,834 — the adjusted value of that $80,240 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 97 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 $87,170 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $52,500, the highest tenth $125,700, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $66,834.
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, $62,274 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 47 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 $87,170. 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 ($52,500) and the ninetieth ($125,700) 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 $66,834 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 $62,274 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.