Paralegals and Legal Assistants in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,216
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$9,664
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,454
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
$53,880
Kept after tax
$44,216
Worth in national money
$47,454
State rank
45
of 51 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 $53,880. That is 45 of 51 states, and about 14.33% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in South Carolina, this sits in the middle: 245 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- South Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $53,880 the take-home is $44,216; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $47,454 would nationally. The average comes to $55,790, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For paralegals and legal assistants, South Carolina sits in the lower band at $53,880, ranking 45 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 14.33%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Paralegals and legal assistants ranks 245 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.
- Post-tax income for paralegals and legal assistants in South Carolina, on $53,880, is $44,216 — equivalent to $47,454 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 $55,790 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Paralegals and Legal Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,020 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,880 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,640 |
| This salary | $53,880 |
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 | $44,216 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,473 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$659 |
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 | $52,316 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$797 |
| 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 paralegals and legal assistants in South Carolina earn under $53,880 and half over. The published range runs $38,020 at the tenth percentile to $75,640 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $44,216, from $53,880, 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 245 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 $47,454 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 245.
- Figures are distribution medians for paralegals and legal assistants in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,020 to $75,640; 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 $44,216 from $53,880. 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 245 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $47,454, worked from $53,880, 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 245 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 $55,790 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,020 at the tenth percentile, $75,640 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 $47,454 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 $44,216.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $55,790. 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 ($38,020 to $75,640) 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 $47,454 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 $44,216 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.