Travel Agents in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,560
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$5,000
14.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,724
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
$34,560
Kept after tax
$29,560
Worth in national money
$31,724
State rank
49
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- South Carolina is among the lower-paying states for travel agents. The middle earner takes $34,560, ranking 49 of 49 states — about 31.1% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in South Carolina, this one sits low: 442 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- South Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $34,560 the take-home is $29,560; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $31,724 would nationally. The average comes to $41,640, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- South Carolina ranks 49 of 49 for travel agents, with a median of $34,560 — about 31.1% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Travel agents occupies position 442 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.
- Post-tax income for travel agents in South Carolina, on $34,560, is $29,560 — equivalent to $31,724 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $41,640 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Travel Agents
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,150 |
| This salary | $34,560 |
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 | $29,560 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,949 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$905 |
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 | $34,076 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,094 |
| 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 $34,560. The published range is $26,120 up to $62,150, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $29,560 take-home in South Carolina comes from $34,560. 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 442 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 $31,724, the adjusted value of that $34,560 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 442 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for travel agents in South Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $26,120 to $62,150. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $29,560, from $34,560, 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 442 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 49 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for South Carolina, so $31,724 — the adjusted value of that $34,560 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 442 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $41,640 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $26,120 and the top tenth $62,150 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $31,724 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, $29,560 remains.
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 49 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 $41,640. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($26,120) and the ninetieth ($62,150) 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 $31,724 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 $29,560 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.