Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,108
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$17,302
22.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$65,583
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
$78,410
Kept after tax
$61,108
Worth in national money
$65,583
State rank
29
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. South Carolina pays this job around $78,410 at the midpoint, 29 of 46 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in South Carolina. It ranks 110 out of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where South Carolina does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $78,410 you keep $61,108, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $65,583 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $76,570, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For sociology teachers, postsecondary the South Carolina median is $78,410, ranking 29 of 46 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.
- Within South Carolina, sociology teachers, postsecondary ranks 110 of 492 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and South Carolina income tax, retained pay for sociology teachers, postsecondary on $78,410 is $61,108. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $65,583 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 $76,570 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,440 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $78,410 |
| Top tenth earn over | $109,170 |
| This salary | $78,410 |
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 | $61,108 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,991 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$269 |
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 | $74,312 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$371 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $78,410 as a midpoint for South Carolina, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $41,440 and the ninetieth is $109,170 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $61,108 take-home in South Carolina comes from $78,410. 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 110 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 $65,583, the adjusted value of that $78,410 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 110 of 492 in the state.
- The South Carolina median of $78,410 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $41,440 to $109,170. 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 $61,108, from $78,410, 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 110 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 46 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $65,583 — the adjusted value of that $78,410 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 110 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $41,440, the highest tenth $109,170, 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 $65,583 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, $61,108 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($41,440) and the ninetieth ($109,170) 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 $65,583 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 $61,108 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.