South Carolina Paycheck Calculator 2026

A South Carolina paycheck gets shaved in four predictable places before the deposit hits your account. Three are federal and identical everywhere: income tax withheld per your W-4, Social Security at 6.2% on wages up to the $184,500 base, and Medicare at 1.45% on every dollar with no ceiling. The fourth is South Carolina's own income tax, a graduated levy that runs at a low rate on the first slice of taxable income and climbs to a top rate of 5.21% on the rest. Your employer estimates that state piece each pay period using the SC W-4 you filed and the state withholding tables.

What South Carolina leaves off the stub matters as much as what it adds. The state runs no disability insurance and no paid-family-leave program, so there's no SDI or PFL line eating into your check the way there is in California or New York, and there are no local city or county income taxes layered on wages. Pre-tax choices still move the needle: a traditional 401(k) contribution, up to the $24,500 deferral limit, and pre-tax health premiums come out before income tax is figured, trimming both the federal and the state bite at once.

On a $60,000 salary, South Carolina's graduated income tax, topping out at 5.21%, comes to about $1,662 a year for a single filer after the state's own deductions and exemptions — on top of $4,590 in federal FICA, which is the same in every state. 22 of the 42 states that tax income have a lower top rate than South Carolina's 5.21%.

The state minimum wage is $7.25/hr , matching the federal floor of $7.25 — about $15,080 a year at 40 hours a week. There is no state disability or paid-family-leave deduction, so nothing beyond income tax and FICA comes out at the state level.