Slaughterers and Meat Packers in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,407
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$7,593
16.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,219
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
$46,000
Kept after tax
$38,407
Worth in national money
$41,219
State rank
6
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. South Carolina pays slaughterers and meat packers a middle wage of $46,000, ranking 6 of 47 states and sitting about 14.63% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Slaughterers and meat packers ranks 328 among 492 occupations South Carolina publishes pay for.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $46,000 you keep $38,407, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $41,219 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $42,400, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- South Carolina's median for slaughterers and meat packers is $46,000, about 14.63% above the national figure and 6 of 47 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 328 of 492 in South Carolina places slaughterers and meat packers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for slaughterers and meat packers on $46,000 is $38,407. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $41,219 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 $42,400 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Slaughterers and Meat Packers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,740 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,000 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,260 |
| This salary | $46,000 |
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 | $38,407 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,141 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$941 |
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 | $45,086 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,137 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $46,000 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $33,740 and the ninetieth is $47,260 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $38,407, from $46,000, 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 328 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,219 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 328.
- The South Carolina median of $46,000 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $33,740 to $47,260. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for South Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,407 from $46,000. 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 328 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,219, worked from $46,000, 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 328 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 $42,400, 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 — $33,740 at the tenth percentile, $47,260 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 $41,219 in national terms.
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 $38,407.
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 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $42,400. 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 ($33,740 to $47,260) 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 $41,219 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 $38,407 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.