What actually lands in your bank account from a South Carolina paycheck in 2026 — every deduction line, per paycheck and per year, computed from the official tables.
At 0% you put away $0 a year; each extra 1% costs about $29 a paycheck before its tax saving.
You keep 79% of gross pay — $2,267 of every $2,885 paycheck.
Inner ring: the five buckets of your gross pay. Outer ring: what each bucket is made of, per paycheck.
The same numbers, in the shape you see at work. It rewrites itself as you change the inputs above.
Each bar starts where the previous one ended. What is left at the bottom is your paycheck.
| Line | Per paycheck | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $2,885 | $75,000 |
| Federal income tax | -$295 | -$7,670 |
| Social Security | -$179 | -$4,650 |
| Medicare | -$42 | -$1,088 |
| South Carolina income tax | -$102 | -$2,657 |
| Take-home pay | $2,267 | $58,935 |
Withholding in real life follows the IRS and South Carolina withholding tables paycheck by paycheck, so an individual check can differ by a few dollars from this annualised estimate; the year-end totals are what the tables aim at.
| Frequency | Take-home per check | Gross per check |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly (52×/yr) | $1,133 | $1,442 |
| Biweekly (26×/yr) | $2,267 | $2,885 |
| Semimonthly (24×/yr) | $2,456 | $3,125 |
| Monthly (12×/yr) | $4,911 | $6,250 |
| Salary | Gross per check | Take-home per check | Take-home per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $1,923 | $1,591 | $41,355 |
| $75,000 | $2,885 | $2,267 | $58,935 |
| $100,000 | $3,846 | $2,882 | $74,936 |
| $125,000 | $4,808 | $3,506 | $91,157 |
The state-specific rules behind the numbers above — the things a generic calculator gets wrong about South Carolina.
From tax year 2026, South Carolina taxes taxable income at just two rates — 1.99% up to $30,000 and 5.21% above it — under H.4216 (Act 110), the same schedule for every filing status. It replaced the old three-bracket schedule (0% / 3% / 6.00%) that Tax Foundation's 2026 table had printed before the reform was signed.
Source: Tax Foundation, State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets 2026
Act 110 decoupled South Carolina from the federal standard deduction and created the SCIAD in its place: $15,000 single, $22,500 head of household, $30,000 married filing jointly — but it phases out with AGI (single filers lose it between $40,000 and $95,000; joint filers between $80,000 and $190,000), so higher earners shelter less. This calculator models the phase-out.
Source: Tax Foundation, State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets 2026 (conformity footnote)
South Carolina does not tax Social Security benefits or railroad retirement at all. Other retirement income gets a deduction of up to $3,000 before age 65 and up to $10,000 from age 65, and from 65 a separate deduction shelters up to $15,000 of income from any source, reduced by any retirement deduction already claimed. Military retirement pay is fully exempt at any age, with no cap.
Source: South Carolina Department of Revenue; S.C. Code § 12-6-1170; SC Department of Veterans' Affairs
South Carolina taxes only 56% of net long-term capital gains: a 44% deduction applies before the rates are applied, a long-standing preference few states match in this form.
Source: South Carolina Department of Revenue / AARP South Carolina state tax guide
No. Social Security benefits (and railroad retirement) are fully exempt from South Carolina income tax at every income level.
On $75,000 of wages as a single filer, the South Carolina state tax estimate on the pre-reform schedule is $2,657, leaving take-home pay of $58,935 after federal tax of $7,670, FICA of $5,738 and total tax of $16,065. South Carolina's 2026 reform (H.4216) changes the rate schedule, so check the changes note on this page.
Yes — completely. Since tax years after 2021, 100% of military retirement pay is exempt from South Carolina income tax, with no age requirement and no earned-income cap, and a surviving spouse receiving that pay can claim it too.
Two stacked pieces: you can deduct up to $3,000 of qualifying retirement income before 65 (up to $10,000 from age 65), and from 65 you can deduct up to $15,000 of income from any source — but that $15,000 is reduced by any retirement-income deduction already claimed, so the combined ceiling is $15,000 per person.
From tax year 2026 there is no federal-conformity standard deduction: H.4216 (Act 110) created the South Carolina Income Adjusted Deduction (SCIAD) — $15,000 for single filers, $30,000 married filing jointly, $22,500 head of household — which phases out as AGI rises (for single filers, full to $40,000 and gone at $95,000). This calculator applies the SCIAD with its phase-out. Source: SCDOR, Information Letter #26-20.
Yes, a distinctive one: South Carolina allows a deduction for 44% of net long-term capital gains, so less than three-fifths of a long-term gain is exposed to state tax.
South Carolina paycheck calculator for 2026: exact take-home pay per paycheck and per year after federal tax, Social Security, Medicare and South Carolina tax — on any salary or hourly wage.
100% free · No sign-up · No daily limits · No watermarks · Processed in your browser — files never leave your device
See what actually lands in your bank account from a South Carolina paycheck in 2026: federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare, and South Carolina state income tax — per paycheck and per year, on a salary or an hourly wage, at any pay frequency. Rates checked 31 October 2026; all figures are for the 2026 tax year.
On a $75,000 salary paid bi-weekly in South Carolina (single filer, 2026): gross per paycheck is $2,884.62, federal withholding $295.00, Social Security and Medicare $220.67, South Carolina tax $102.20, leaving take-home of $2,266.74 per paycheck — $58,935.18 a year.
The calculator annualises your pay, works out the year’s federal tax (2026 brackets and standard deduction, IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32), Social Security at 6.2% to the $184,500 wage base, Medicare at 1.45% plus the 0.9% additional tax over the threshold, and South Carolina tax on the state’s own 2026 schedule, then divides by your pay frequency. Pre-tax deductions reduce the taxable amounts before the annual figure is split.
No. Social Security benefits (and railroad retirement) are fully exempt from South Carolina income tax at every income level.
On $75,000 of wages as a single filer, the South Carolina state tax estimate on the pre-reform schedule is $2,657, leaving take-home pay of $58,935 after federal tax of $7,670, FICA of $5,738 and total tax of $16,065. South Carolina's 2026 reform (H.4216) changes the rate schedule, so check the changes note on this page.
Yes — completely. Since tax years after 2021, 100% of military retirement pay is exempt from South Carolina income tax, with no age requirement and no earned-income cap, and a surviving spouse receiving that pay can claim it too.
Two stacked pieces: you can deduct up to $3,000 of qualifying retirement income before 65 (up to $10,000 from age 65), and from 65 you can deduct up to $15,000 of income from any source — but that $15,000 is reduced by any retirement-income deduction already claimed, so the combined ceiling is $15,000 per person.
From tax year 2026 there is no federal-conformity standard deduction: H.4216 (Act 110) created the South Carolina Income Adjusted Deduction (SCIAD) — $15,000 for single filers, $30,000 married filing jointly, $22,500 head of household — which phases out as AGI rises (for single filers, full to $40,000 and gone at $95,000). This calculator applies the SCIAD with its phase-out. Source: SCDOR, Information Letter #26-20.
Yes, a distinctive one: South Carolina allows a deduction for 44% of net long-term capital gains, so less than three-fifths of a long-term gain is exposed to state tax.
What is missing, broken, or could be better on this tool? Tell us — we read every suggestion.
✅ Thanks — your suggestion has been received. Suggestions like yours shape what we build next.