Production Workers, All Other in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,509
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$6,091
15.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,963
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
$39,600
Kept after tax
$33,509
Worth in national money
$35,963
State rank
34
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. South Carolina is 34 of 51 states for production workers, all other, with a middle wage of $39,600. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within South Carolina this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, production workers, all other ranks 386. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $39,600 you keep $33,509 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $35,963 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $42,310, since top earners drag the number up.
- South Carolina ranks 34 of 51 for production workers, all other at $39,600. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation South Carolina reports, production workers, all other ranks 386 of 492, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay in South Carolina is $33,509 after the full tax stack, from $39,600. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $35,963 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $42,310 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Production Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,880 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,600 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,500 |
| This salary | $39,600 |
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 | $33,509 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,999 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$976 |
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 | $38,991 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,180 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $39,600 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,880 and the ninetieth is $57,500 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $33,509 take-home in South Carolina comes from $39,600. 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 386 of 492.
- Two cautions on $35,963, the adjusted value of that $39,600 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 386 of 492 locally.
- The South Carolina median of $39,600 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,880 to $57,500. 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 $33,509, from $39,600, 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 386 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 34 of 51 for it.
- This $35,963 adjusted figure, worked from $39,600, 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 386 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 386 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 $42,310 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $30,880 and the top tenth $57,500, so most people doing this work in South Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $35,963 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $33,509.
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 $42,310. 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 ($30,880 to $57,500) 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 $35,963 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 $33,509 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.