Rehabilitation Counselors in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,680
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$5,310
14.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,927
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
$35,990
Kept after tax
$30,680
Worth in national money
$32,927
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for rehabilitation counselors is on the low side in South Carolina. The middle earner gets $35,990. That is 50 of 51 states, and about 23.18% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 492 occupations South Carolina publishes, rehabilitation counselors lands at 429. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $35,990 you keep $30,680, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $32,927 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $40,730, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For rehabilitation counselors, South Carolina sits in the lower band at $35,990, ranking 50 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 23.18%. 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 429 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.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for rehabilitation counselors on $35,990 is $30,680. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $32,927 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 $40,730 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Rehabilitation Counselors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,900 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,310 |
| This salary | $35,990 |
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 | $30,680 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,098 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$925 |
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 | $35,470 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,119 |
| 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 rehabilitation counselors in South Carolina earn under $35,990 and half over. The published range runs $30,900 at the tenth percentile to $55,310 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind South Carolina's $30,680, worked from $35,990. 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 429 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $32,927 uses one figure for the whole of South Carolina. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 429.
- Figures are distribution medians for rehabilitation counselors in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,900 to $55,310; 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.
- The South Carolina take-home of $30,680, on $35,990 for work ranking 429 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 429 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $32,927, worked from $35,990, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular South Carolina address, on work sitting at 429 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $40,730, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $30,900 at the tenth percentile, $55,310 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 $32,927 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, $30,680 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $40,730. 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 ($30,900 to $55,310) 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 $32,927 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 $30,680 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.