Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,438
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$15,212
20.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$61,644
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
$72,650
Kept after tax
$57,438
Worth in national money
$61,644
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. South Carolina is 24 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $72,650. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in South Carolina, this sits in the middle: 142 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $72,650 you keep $57,438 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $61,644 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $71,920.
- South Carolina ranks 24 of 51 for stationary engineers and boiler operators at $72,650. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Stationary engineers and boiler operators ranks 142 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.
- Retained pay in South Carolina is $57,438 after the full tax stack, from $72,650. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $61,644 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $71,920 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $53,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $72,650 |
| Top tenth earn over | $89,240 |
| This salary | $72,650 |
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 | $57,438 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $59,939 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$38 |
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 | $69,095 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$52 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in South Carolina earn less than $72,650. The published range is $53,330 up to $89,240, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $57,438, from $72,650, 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 142 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $61,644, the adjusted value of that $72,650 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of South Carolina. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 142 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for stationary engineers and boiler operators in South Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $53,330 to $89,240. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for South Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $57,438 from $72,650. 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 142 of 492 locally.
- This $61,644 adjusted figure, worked from $72,650, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 142 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 142 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $53,330 at the bottom tenth to $89,240 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 $61,644 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, $57,438 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($53,330 to $89,240) 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 $61,644 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 $57,438 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.