South Carolina Paycheck Calculator & Income Tax Rates (2026)

South Carolina applies 3 rates to taxable income — that is, income after the state standard deduction or exemption. Only the slice of income inside each band is taxed at that band's rate.

South Carolina's effective state rate climbs with income as more of your salary lands in higher bands. The last column shows the state rate on your next dollar at each level.

South Carolina's joint brackets are the same as single brackets, so the marriage effect here comes from the deduction and the federal side. On $100,000 a joint return keeps $81,284 versus $74,733 for a single filer.

South Carolina levies a three-bracket income tax for 2026 with rates of 0%, 3%, and 6%. The design comes from a 2022 law that collapsed six brackets into three and cut the top rate from 7% to 6.5%, then let it ratchet down a tenth of a point at a time in years when general-fund revenue growth hit a target. Those triggers, accelerated by the legislature along the way, have carried the top rate to 6%, the floor the law set. The 6% bracket begins at a low taxable income — under $20,000 — so most full-time workers pay the top marginal rate on the bulk of their earnings, and the effective rate for a typical household lands closer to 5% than the 0% and 3% brackets suggest. South Carolina is unusual in starting its return from federal taxable income rather than adjusted gross income, which means the federal standard deduction or itemized deductions flow straight through to the state. Flat-tax proposals have circulated in Columbia, but for 2026 the graduated structure stands.

Because the return begins with federal taxable income, the federal standard deduction — $16,100 single and $32,200 joint for 2026 — or federal itemized deductions apply automatically; there is no separate state standard deduction. South Carolina adds its own dependent exemption of roughly $5,000 per child, indexed annually, and a two-wage-earner credit worth up to $350 for couples where both spouses work. The state earned income credit is a nonrefundable 125% of the federal credit — the highest match rate in the country, though its nonrefundable design blunts it for the lowest earners.

No South Carolina city or county levies an income tax, and state law gives them no authority to do so. Local governments raise revenue through property taxes, the local-option sales taxes that push combined rates toward 9% in some counties, and hospitality and accommodations taxes on meals and lodging.

The state sales tax is 6%, and counties can add up to 3% in local option, capital project, transportation, and school taxes, putting the typical combined rate between 7% and 9% — Charleston County sits at 9%. Unprepared groceries are exempt from the state 6% but not always from local pennies. Vehicles are the notable break: instead of sales tax, car purchases pay a flat infrastructure maintenance fee capped at $500.

Owner-occupied homes get one of the best property tax deals in the country. A primary residence is assessed at 4% of market value versus 6% for second homes and rentals, and since 2006 it has been exempt from school operating millage, typically the largest slice of the bill. The effective rate on a primary home lands around 0.5%; a second home in the same neighborhood can pay two to three times as much. Homeowners 65 and older or disabled also get a $50,000 homestead exemption.

Social Security is fully exempt. Military retirement pay has been 100% exempt since tax year 2022, regardless of age. Other retirement income — pensions, 401(k) and IRA withdrawals — gets a retirement income deduction of up to $3,000 for filers under 65 and up to $10,000 for those 65 and older, applied per taxpayer. On top of that, anyone 65 or older can deduct up to $15,000 of income from any source, reduced by whatever retirement deduction they already claimed. For a retired couple, that combination can shelter $30,000 of distributions before the 3% and 6% rates apply, on top of the federal standard deduction that carries through to the state return.

Retirees win, especially military retirees, whose pensions are untouched and whose Social Security is exempt; the 65-plus deductions can leave a couple with modest distributions paying little or nothing. Homeowners win on the 4% assessment ratio, which is why relocating retirees often net out ahead of Georgia or North Carolina despite the higher nominal income tax rate. Dual-income couples get a small offset from the two-wage-earner credit but pay 6% on nearly all their income. High W-2 earners see an effective rate approaching 5.5%, well above neighboring North Carolina's 3.99% flat rate. Self-employed workers face no local business income tax.

The median household income in South Carolina is $51,000, which is $41,706 a year ($3,476 a month) after all taxes. That is close to the national median. After adjusting for cost of living, the purchasing power of that take-home is equivalent to $45,333 in an average-cost area.

South Carolina ranks #32 of 50 for raw take-home pay and #21 for cost-adjusted purchasing power at $100,000. The 11-place gap between the two reflects a below-average cost of living that boosts real purchasing power. The best state (Alaska) leaves $79,125; the worst (Oregon) leaves $70,932. South Carolina is $4,392 behind the leader.

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