Physical Therapist Assistants in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$56,068
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$14,432
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$60,174
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
$70,500
Kept after tax
$56,068
Worth in national money
$60,174
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Carolina is one of the better-paying states for physical therapist assistants. The middle earner takes $70,500, which ranks 16 of 51 states with published figures. That is about 3.1% above the national middle.
- Against other work in South Carolina, this sits in the middle: 145 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 $70,500 you keep $56,068 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $60,174 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $68,260.
- South Carolina ranks 16 of 51 states publishing a median for physical therapist assistants, at $70,500 — about 3.1% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Physical therapist assistants ranks 145 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 $56,068 after the full tax stack, from $70,500. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $60,174 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $68,260 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Physical Therapist Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $70,500 |
| Top tenth earn over | $88,070 |
| This salary | $70,500 |
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 | $56,068 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $58,427 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$49 |
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 | $67,147 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$67 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $70,500 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $47,510 and the ninetieth is $88,070 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $56,068 take-home in South Carolina comes from $70,500. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 145 of 492.
- Two cautions on $60,174, the adjusted value of that $70,500 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 145 of 492 locally.
- The South Carolina median of $70,500 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $47,510 to $88,070. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $56,068, from $70,500, assumes a single South Carolina filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 145 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 51 for it.
- This $60,174 adjusted figure, worked from $70,500, 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 145 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 145 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 $68,260, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $47,510 at the bottom tenth to $88,070 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $60,174 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 $56,068.
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 $68,260. 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 ($47,510 to $88,070) 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 $60,174 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 $56,068 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.