What is the South Carolina state income tax rate for 2024?

South Carolina uses a graduated tax with a top marginal rate of 6.4% for 2024. The first band of taxable income is taxed at 0%, a middle band at 3%, and income above the upper threshold at 6.4%. The brackets are indexed annually for inflation.

How much is taken out of a South Carolina paycheck?

Each paycheck typically loses 6.2% to Social Security (up to the wage cap), 1.45% to Medicare, federal income tax based on your W-4, and South Carolina state tax of up to 6.4% on the taxable portion. Pre-tax retirement and health contributions lower the taxable base.

Does South Carolina have local income taxes?

No. South Carolina cities and counties do not levy a separate local income tax on wages, so your only income-tax withholding is federal plus the single state tax. This calculator therefore models federal, FICA, and South Carolina state tax only.

What is the FICA wage base for Social Security?

For 2024 Social Security tax of 6.2% applies only to the first $168,600 of wages; earnings above that are exempt from the Social Security portion. Medicare's 1.45% has no cap, and an extra 0.9% Medicare surtax applies to high earners above $200,000.

South Carolina Paycheck Calculator

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This South Carolina paycheck calculator estimates your net take-home pay by subtracting federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare, and South Carolina state income tax from your gross wages. It converts any pay frequency to annual figures, applies the 2024 brackets, and shows the full deduction breakdown.

How it works

Your paycheck is reduced by four main deductions. Gross pay is first annualized by multiplying by the number of pay periods. Pre-tax 401(k) and insurance amounts are removed to get taxable wages. Then:

Social Security = 6.2% of wages up to $168,600
Medicare        = 1.45% of all wages (+0.9% surtax over $200,000)
Federal tax     = simplified 2024 brackets on (wages − standard deduction)
SC state tax    = 2024 graduated brackets (0% / 3% / 6.4%)
net pay         = gross − federal − FICA − SC state

South Carolina collapsed its old six-bracket schedule into a graduated structure topping out at 6.4% for 2024, with the bracket thresholds indexed for inflation. There are no local wage income taxes in South Carolina.

Example

A single worker earning $60,000 a year subtracts the standard deduction, then pays roughly the 6.2% Social Security and 1.45% Medicare on the full wage, federal tax on the reduced base, and South Carolina state tax climbing into the 6.4% band on the top slice of taxable income. The tool sums these and shows the remaining take-home pay per check.

Notes

This is a simplified model: it uses the standard deduction and headline 2024 brackets and does not capture every W-4 adjustment, credit, supplemental-wage rule, or year-specific bracket index. Social Security stops at the annual wage base while Medicare continues. Always confirm your exact withholding on your pay stub and against the SCDOR withholding tables at dor.sc.gov.