Receptionists and Information Clerks in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,304
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$5,206
14.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,523
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
$35,510
Kept after tax
$30,304
Worth in national money
$32,523
State rank
40
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. South Carolina pays this job a middle wage of $35,510, 40 of 51 states and about 6.58% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within South Carolina this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 432. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $35,510 you keep $30,304, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $32,523 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $35,330, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- South Carolina's $35,510 median for receptionists and information clerks places it 40 of 51 states, about 6.58% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation South Carolina reports, receptionists and information clerks ranks 432 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.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for receptionists and information clerks on $35,510 is $30,304. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $32,523 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $35,330 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Receptionists and Information Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,510 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,750 |
| This salary | $35,510 |
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 | $30,304 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,712 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$918 |
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 | $35,002 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,110 |
| 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 receptionists and information clerks in South Carolina earn under $35,510 and half over. The published range runs $22,710 at the tenth percentile to $46,750 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $30,304 take-home in South Carolina comes from $35,510. 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 432 of 492.
- Two cautions on $32,523, the adjusted value of that $35,510 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 432 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for receptionists and information clerks in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $22,710 to $46,750; 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.
- Retained pay of $30,304, from $35,510, 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 432 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 40 of 51 for it.
- This $32,523 adjusted figure, worked from $35,510, 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 432 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 432 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $22,710 at the tenth percentile, $46,750 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 $32,523 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and South Carolina adds its own income tax on top — which is why $30,304 of this wage survives to your account.
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 ($22,710 to $46,750) 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 $32,523 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 $30,304 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.