Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,830
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$6,180
15.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,308
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
$40,010
Kept after tax
$33,830
Worth in national money
$36,308
State rank
35
of 50 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 $40,010. That is 35 of 50 states, and about 7.43% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 492 occupations South Carolina publishes, this job lands at 380. 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 $40,010 the take-home is $33,830; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $36,308 would nationally. The average comes to $42,380, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For packaging and filling machine operators and tenders, South Carolina sits in the lower band at $40,010, ranking 35 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 7.43%. 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 380 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 packaging and filling machine operators and tenders in South Carolina, on $40,010, is $33,830 — equivalent to $36,308 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 $42,380 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,880 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $51,080 |
| This salary | $40,010 |
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 | $33,830 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,328 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$982 |
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 | $39,391 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,187 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $40,010 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,880 and the ninetieth is $51,080 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $33,830, from $40,010, 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 380 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $36,308, the adjusted value of that $40,010 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of South Carolina. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 380 of 492 locally.
- The South Carolina median of $40,010 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,880 to $51,080. 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 $33,830 from $40,010. 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 380 of 492 locally.
- This $36,308 adjusted figure, worked from $40,010, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 380 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 380 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $42,380, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $32,880 at the tenth percentile, $51,080 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. South Carolina is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $36,308 in national terms.
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 $33,830.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 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 $42,380. 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 ($32,880 to $51,080) 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 $36,308 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 $33,830 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.