Security Guards in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,265
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$5,195
14.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,481
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
$35,460
Kept after tax
$30,265
Worth in national money
$32,481
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for security guards is on the low side in South Carolina. The middle earner gets $35,460. That is 44 of 51 states, and about 6.73% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Measured against other jobs in South Carolina, this one sits low: 433 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $35,460 you keep $30,265, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $32,481 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $37,060, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For security guards, South Carolina sits in the lower band at $35,460, ranking 44 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 6.73%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Security guards occupies position 433 of 492 in South Carolina's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for security guards on $35,460 is $30,265. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $32,481 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 $37,060 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Security Guards
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,420 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,460 |
| Top tenth earn over | $48,850 |
| This salary | $35,460 |
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 | $30,265 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,672 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$917 |
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 | $34,953 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,109 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $35,460 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $27,420 and the ninetieth is $48,850 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $30,265 take-home in South Carolina comes from $35,460. 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 433 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 $32,481, the adjusted value of that $35,460 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 433 of 492 in the state.
- The South Carolina median of $35,460 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $27,420 to $48,850. 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 $30,265, from $35,460, 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 433 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 44 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $32,481 — the adjusted value of that $35,460 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 433 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $37,060, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $27,420 at the bottom tenth to $48,850 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $32,481 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, $30,265 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 $37,060. 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 ($27,420 to $48,850) 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 $32,481 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 $30,265 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.