Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,854
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$8,466
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,846
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
$49,320
Kept after tax
$40,854
Worth in national money
$43,846
State rank
31
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Carolina sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $49,320, ranking 31 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in South Carolina, this sits in the middle: 282 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $49,320 you keep $40,854, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $43,846 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $50,530, because the best-paid pull it up.
- South Carolina occupies the middle band for separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders: a median of $49,320, ranking 31 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders ranks 282 of 492 occupations in South Carolina by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders on $49,320 is $40,854. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $43,846 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 $50,530 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,320 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,800 |
| This salary | $49,320 |
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 | $40,854 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,809 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$822 |
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 | $48,132 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$994 |
| 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 separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders in South Carolina earn under $49,320 and half over. The published range runs $33,430 at the tenth percentile to $75,800 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $40,854 take-home in South Carolina comes from $49,320. 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 282 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 $43,846, the adjusted value of that $49,320 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 282 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders in South Carolina, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $33,430 to $75,800; 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 $40,854, from $49,320, 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 282 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 31 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $43,846 — the adjusted value of that $49,320 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 282 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $33,430, the highest tenth $75,800, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $43,846 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; South Carolina then takes its own share, leaving $40,854.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($33,430) and the ninetieth ($75,800) 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 $43,846 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 $40,854 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.