Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,630
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$11,950
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,337
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
$62,580
Kept after tax
$50,630
Worth in national money
$54,337
State rank
32
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. South Carolina pays this job around $62,580 at the midpoint, 32 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations South Carolina reports figures for, this is number 185.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $62,580 you keep $50,630 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $54,337 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $65,340, since top earners drag the number up.
- For secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education the South Carolina median is $62,580, ranking 32 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In South Carolina's occupational distribution, secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education sits at 185 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Retained pay in South Carolina is $50,630 after the full tax stack, from $62,580. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $54,337 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $65,340 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,740 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,700 |
| This salary | $62,580 |
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 | $50,630 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,463 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$349 |
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 | $60,298 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$422 |
| 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 secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education in South Carolina earn under $62,580 and half over. The published range runs $48,740 at the tenth percentile to $80,700 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $50,630, from $62,580, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 185 of 492 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of South Carolina, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $54,337, the adjusted value of that $62,580 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 185 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for secondary school teachers, except special and career/technical education in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $48,740 to $80,700; 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.
- Take-home for South Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $50,630 from $62,580. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 185 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $54,337 — the adjusted value of that $62,580 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 185 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 $65,340, 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 — $48,740 at the tenth percentile, $80,700 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. South Carolina is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $54,337 in national terms.
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, $50,630 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 $65,340. 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 ($48,740 to $80,700) 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 $54,337 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 $50,630 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.