Hourly pay after taxes in South Carolina
$20 an hour in South Carolina comes to $1,331.36 every two weeks after taxes, for a single person working full time.
Updated for 2026Checked Oct 29, 2026 against IRS and South Carolina Department of Revenue sourcesHow we check
Take-home pay by hourly wage, 2026
| Wage | Two weeks | Month | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $7.25 | $535.63 | $1,161 | $13,926 |
| $18.00 | $1,211.44 | $2,625 | $31,497 |
| $20.00 | $1,331.36 | $2,885 | $34,615 |
| $22.00 | $1,451.28 | $3,144 | $37,733 |
| $25.00 | $1,631.16 | $3,534 | $42,410 |
| $30.00 | $1,930.96 | $4,184 | $50,205 |
| $35.00 | $2,206.53 | $4,781 | $57,370 |
| $40.00 | $2,464.44 | $5,340 | $64,075 |
| $50.00 | $2,979.24 | $6,455 | $77,460 |
Every column after the wage is take-home pay. Each row assumes 40 hours a week all year, one paycheck every two weeks, single, no dependents, and no benefits taken out. The monthly and yearly columns are that paycheck times 26. Use the paycheck calculator for your own hours and deductions.
What comes out of an hourly paycheck
At $25 an hour, a two-week paycheck in South Carolina starts at $2,000.00 and ends at $1,631.16.
| Federal income tax | $156.15 |
| Social Security | $124.00 |
| Medicare | $29.00 |
| South Carolina income tax | $59.69 |
South Carolina taxes 2026 income at 1.99 percent on taxable income under $30,000 and, from $30,000 up, at 5.21 percent of taxable income minus $966, under a law signed in March 2026. Employers still withhold under the formula published in November 2025, which tops out at 6 percent. Federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare are withheld too, and nothing for disability or leave, and no city or county wage tax, is added.
The two rules do not match, so the amount withheld is an estimate of the state's tax.
What changes your number
South Carolina is in a gap between old and new rules. Employers still use the November 2025 formula while the state's actual tax follows the March 2026 law, so the return, not the paycheck, decides the final bill. A refund or a balance due on the state return is possible.
Form SC W-4 allowances cover you, a married filer, a head of household, and each dependent. Its worksheet adds one for a worker with only one job. The lower 1.99 percent rate applies only below $30,000 of taxable income, so higher rows meet the larger rate.
Hours matter too. At $20 an hour and 30 hours a week instead of 40, a two-week paycheck in South Carolina comes to $1,031.39.
The minimum wage in South Carolina
The minimum wage in South Carolina is $7.25 an hour, and a full-time worker at $7.25 takes home about $1,161 a month. South Carolina has no minimum wage rate of its own, so the federal rate applies, and a state law bars local governments from setting a rate above it.
Sources and checks
Checked on Oct 29, 2026. Source: South Carolina Department of Revenue, SC Information Letter #26-20, Individual Income Tax Reform (August 31, 2026), page 1: Act 110 of 2026, signed March 30, 2026, effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025; page 2: "$0 - $29,999: 1.99% times taxable income; $30,000 or more: (5.21% times taxable income) minus $966"; page 4: "The SCDOR will consult with the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office to adjust the income tax withholding tables to reflect the income tax changes" (dor.sc.gov/sites/dor/files/policies/IL26-20.pdf, saved as data/sources/south-carolina/IL26-20.pdf, read Oct 29, 2026). Withholding: WH-1603F, Formula for Computing South Carolina 2026 Withholding Tax (Rev. 11/4/25), still the formula linked from dor.sc.gov/withholding on Oct 29, 2026 (saved as data/sources/south-carolina/WH1603F_2026.pdf and scdor-withholding.html).
Disability: South Carolina runs no state disability or paid-family-leave insurance program paid by an employee payroll deduction: the SCDOR withholding page and formula (saved as data/sources/south-carolina/scdor-withholding.html and WH1603F_2026.pdf, read Oct 29, 2026) cover state income tax as the only state withholding on wages, and no South Carolina law or agency page describing such a program was found.
Local taxes: The SCDOR withholding formula WH-1603F (Rev. 11/4/25) and Form SC W-4 (Rev. 12/5/25) (saved under data/sources/south-carolina/, read Oct 29, 2026) cover South Carolina state income tax only, with no city or county withholding. No official South Carolina page saying "no local income tax" in those words was found (see openQuestions).
Minimum wage: South Carolina has no state minimum wage rate of its own, so the federal Fair Labor Standards Act rate of $7.25 applies. S.C. Code Section 6-1-130(B) (scstatehouse.gov/code/t06c001.php, saved as data/sources/south-carolina/sc-code-t06c001.html, read Oct 29, 2026): "A political subdivision of this State may not establish, mandate, or otherwise require a minimum wage rate that exceeds the federal minimum wage rate set forth in Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 29 U.S.C. 206." The South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation page that would state this directly could not be reached (see openQuestions). No scheduled change.
Federal withholding: IRS Publication 15-T (2026), Worksheet 1A and its "2026 Percentage Method Tables for Automated Payroll Systems and Withholding on Periodic Payments of Pensions and Annuities," pages 10 to 12. Fetched directly from irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15t.pdf and transcribed Oct 28, 2026.
Every figure above comes from the sources listed here. How we check our numbers.
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