Physician Assistants in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$89,572
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$32,918
26.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$96,131
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
$122,490
Kept after tax
$89,572
Worth in national money
$96,131
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for physician assistants is on the low side in South Carolina. The middle earner gets $122,490. That is 45 of 51 states, and about 9.85% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Within South Carolina this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, physician assistants ranks 24 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $122,490 you keep $89,572 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $96,131 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $120,720.
- For physician assistants, South Carolina sits in the lower band at $122,490, ranking 45 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 9.85%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Ranked against every occupation South Carolina publishes a median for, physician assistants sits 24 of 492 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Retained pay in South Carolina is $89,572 after the full tax stack, from $122,490. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $96,131 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $120,720 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Physician Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $77,620 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $122,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $158,860 |
| This salary | $122,490 |
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 | $89,572 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $94,988 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,618 |
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 | $114,772 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,255 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in South Carolina earn less than $122,490. The published range is $77,620 up to $158,860, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Carolina's $89,572, worked from $122,490. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 24 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of South Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $96,131, the adjusted value of that $122,490 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 24 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for physician assistants in South Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $77,620 to $158,860. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The South Carolina take-home of $89,572, on $122,490 for work ranking 24 of 492 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 24 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $96,131 — the adjusted value of that $122,490 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 24 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $77,620 at the tenth percentile, $158,860 at the ninetieth.
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 $96,131 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, $89,572 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($77,620 to $158,860) 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 $96,131 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 $89,572 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.