Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,810
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$5,070
14.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,993
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
$34,880
Kept after tax
$29,810
Worth in national money
$31,993
State rank
50
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 $34,880. That is 50 of 51 states, and about 29.8% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 492 occupations South Carolina publishes, this job lands at 440. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $34,880 you keep $29,810 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $31,993 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $35,690, since top earners drag the number up.
- For refuse and recyclable material collectors, South Carolina sits in the lower band at $34,880, ranking 50 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 29.8%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within South Carolina, this work ranks 440 of 492 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay in South Carolina is $29,810 after the full tax stack, from $34,880. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $31,993 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $35,690 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,340 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,880 |
| Top tenth earn over | $50,600 |
| This salary | $34,880 |
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 | $29,810 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,206 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$909 |
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 | $34,388 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,100 |
| 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 $34,880. The published range is $22,340 up to $50,600, 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 $29,810, worked from $34,880. 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 440 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 $31,993, the adjusted value of that $34,880 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 440 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for refuse and recyclable material collectors in South Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $22,340 to $50,600. 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 $29,810, on $34,880 for work ranking 440 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 440 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $31,993 — the adjusted value of that $34,880 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 440 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $22,340 at the bottom tenth to $50,600 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $31,993 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 $29,810 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($22,340) and the ninetieth ($50,600) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $31,993 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 $29,810 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.