South Carolina Paycheck Calculator 2026

How this calculator works

The South Carolina Department of Revenue publishes a withholding formula, and this calculator follows it. Your pay is converted to a yearly amount. Two deductions come off: $5,000 for each withholding allowance you claim ($10,000 for a single filer with two, $15,000 for a married or head-of-household filer with three), and a standard deduction of 10% of your pay, up to $7,500. The rest is taxed through one table with a 0% step, then 3% and 6%, and the yearly result is divided by the number of pay periods. The table is the same for every filing status; only the number of allowances changes.

The calculator applies these deductions in this order:

• Federal income tax. Your gross pay minus the federal standard deduction for your filing status, run through the 2026 federal brackets.
• Social Security at 6.2% of gross wages, up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500.
• Medicare at 1.45% of all wages, with no cap, plus the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages above $200,000.
• South Carolina income tax: your wages after any 401(k) contribution, minus the allowances for your status and the standard deduction, taxed through the table.

This calculator has no other South Carolina line. We looked for a state payroll deduction that an employer must take from your check and found none. Unemployment insurance is paid by the employer under the state code, as the Payroll programs section below explains.

Rates come from the agencies that set them: the IRS for the federal brackets, the standard deduction and FICA, cross-checked against the Social Security Administration for the wage base; and, for South Carolina, the Department of Revenue’s withholding formula, withholding tables, Form SC W-4 and Information Letter on Act 110, plus the state’s code of laws for the unemployment rule. Our full sourcing is on the methodology page.

How current the source is, and what it does not yet include. The formula is form WH-1603F, headed “2026 withholding tax,” with the revision date “Rev. 11/4/25.” The tables are form WH-1603, “Rev. 10/30/25.” We read both on the Department’s own site on October 20, 2026, and the Sources section links to them. In March 2026 the Governor signed Act 110, which lowers the rates on the tax return for 2026, and the Department’s Information Letter of August 31, 2026 says it will adjust the withholding tables to match. We found no adjusted formula or tables, so this page uses the ones the Department currently publishes for 2026. The federal figures, Social Security wage base and Medicare thresholds are the 2026 ones.

How we checked the formula against the printed tables. The Department prints the withholding for hundreds of pay ranges and for 0 to 10 allowances, in wage-bracket tables for daily, weekly, biweekly, twice-a-month and monthly pay. We rebuilt 4,873 of those printed amounts from the formula, using the middle of each pay range, and rounding up to the next dollar as the tables do. 4,873 matched exactly, with no exception. We also checked the printed constants for each pay period and the Department’s own worked example, a $750 weekly paycheck with 3 allowances, which the formula turns into $549.90 a year, or $10.58 a week. The weekly table prints $11 for that paycheck, because it rounds up.

Withholding is an estimate, not your final bill. The figure here is what an employer takes from each check using the Department’s method. Your actual South Carolina income tax is figured on your return, so what you owe or get back when you file can differ, and for 2026 the return follows the Act 110 rules described below.

What the calculator deliberately leaves out: dependents on Form SC W-4, a second job or a spouse who works, the “higher Single rate” box, extra withholding and the “Exempt” line, bonuses, rounding by your employer, work in another state, and health insurance premiums and other employer benefit deductions.

South Carolina’s two deductions and three steps

The Department’s formula has three steps, and they apply to what is left of your pay after two deductions, not to your pay itself. For a single filer on $75,000, that is $75,000 − $10,000 of allowances − $7,500 of standard deduction = $57,500. The first $3,640 of it is not taxed, the next $14,590 is taxed at 3%, and the rest, $39,270, is taxed at 6%. The 6% step starts above $18,230 of taxable pay, which for a single filer is about $31,367 of yearly pay.

The Department prints this table two ways, and they give the same answer. The subtraction method says to tax the whole amount at 3% and subtract $109.20 between $3,640 and $18,230, and to tax it at 6% and subtract $656.10 above $18,230. The addition method says to subtract $18,230, multiply by 6% and add $437.70. This page uses the second form because the $437.70 is the tax on the whole 3% step: $14,590 × 3%.

How the standard deduction grows with pay, then stops

The standard deduction is 10% of your pay until it reaches $7,500, which happens at $75,000 of yearly pay. Beyond that it stays flat. Here is how it looks at a few salaries.

The same formula for each pay period

The Department prints the same constants for each pay period: the allowance, the cap on the standard deduction and the tax on the whole 3% step, each divided by the number of pay periods. The employer applies them to the pay for that check. The table below shows them as the formula prints them. The Department also prints a daily table.

The withholding allowance: what changes with your South Carolina W-4

The Department’s method uses allowances, and Form SC W-4 is how you tell your employer how many to apply. The form says that for regular wages, withholding must be based on the allowances you claimed and “may not be a flat amount or percentage of wages.” Each allowance is worth $5,000 a year in the formula. This is how the calculator maps its three choices.

The allowances come off your pay before the table, so each extra $1,000 of allowance is worth $60.00 a year to anyone in the 6% step. If both spouses work, line D of the worksheet stays empty for the one who would have used it, so each has fewer allowances and more tax is withheld. The two columns on the right assume the standard deduction is still below its cap, which is true under $75,000 of pay.

Act 110 of 2026: new rates on the return, and where withholding stands

South Carolina changed its individual income tax in 2026, and the change has not reached the withholding formula. This part explains what changed, what the Department says about withholding, and what this calculator does with the gap.

What changed on the tax return

The Governor signed Act 110 of 2026 on March 30, 2026. According to the Department’s Information Letter #26-20, dated August 31, 2026, the three brackets are replaced by two for tax years beginning after 2025: 1.99% of taxable income from $0 to $29,999, and 5.21% times taxable income, then minus $966, from $30,000 and up. The taxable-income amounts in the brackets are adjusted each year using the Chained Consumer Price Index. Beginning with the 2027 tax year, the top rate of 5.21% can fall further if the Board of Economic Advisors projects enough revenue growth.

The new deduction on the return, and why it does not touch withholding

South Carolina no longer follows the federal standard or itemized deductions. A South Carolina return now starts from federal adjusted gross income, and a new South Carolina Income Adjusted Deduction applies instead: $15,000 for single filers and married filers filing separately, $22,500 for head of household and $30,000 for married filing jointly, reduced as adjusted gross income rises and gone at high incomes. That deduction depends on your whole-year income, which an employer cannot know when it prepares one paycheck. The withholding formula does not use it. It uses allowances and a 10% standard deduction instead.

What the Department says about withholding

The Information Letter lists “Adjusts withholding tables to reflect tax changes” among the changes, and its Withholding Tables section says: “The SCDOR will consult with the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office to adjust the income tax withholding tables to reflect the income tax changes. Adjustments to withholding tables must be made in accordance with fiscal responsibility.” It gives no date. The formula (WH-1603F) and the tables (WH-1603) the Department posts for 2026 carry revision dates of November 2025 and October 2025, and the formula still prints a 6.0% top rate.

What this calculator does about it

It follows the published formula, because it is the formula the Department currently publishes for 2026, and it does not calculate your tax return. We do not guess what an adjusted formula would give: any figure we wrote would be ours, not the Department’s. When the Department posts an adjusted formula or tables, we will update the page from them, and the take-home figures above will change.

What you can do if you want your withholding to change now

The Form SC W-4 lets you change the number of allowances you claim, and line 6 lets you ask your employer to withhold an additional amount from each paycheck. The form also says to consider filling out a new one each year and when your situation changes. Whether the final amount you owe will be higher or lower than what is withheld depends on your own return, which this calculator does not model.

If you cross a state line: South Carolina and its neighbors

South Carolina borders North Carolina and Georgia, and some people live on one side of a state line and work on the other. This calculator models none of that. It assumes you live and work in South Carolina, and the formula it uses is the one the Department publishes for South Carolina wages.

North Carolina and Georgia

We publish a calculator for North Carolina and one for Georgia. We did not read the rules that apply to workers who live in one of these states and work in another, so we do not describe them here. If you are in that position, your employer’s payroll provider is the place to ask which state withholds from your check.

Payroll programs: what is, and is not, taken from your check

Unemployment insurance is paid by the employer

Section 41-31-310 of the South Carolina Code of Laws says contributions “shall become due and be paid by each employer to the department for the fund” and “shall not be deducted, in whole or in part, from the wages of the employer’s employees.” Nothing for unemployment insurance comes off your check, and this calculator has no such line.

We found no state disability or paid leave deduction

The Department’s withholding formula, tables and Form SC W-4 describe income tax only. We found no South Carolina state disability or paid family leave deduction that every employee must pay, and this calculator includes none. If your employer offers insurance and deducts a premium, it will appear on your stub.

We found no local income tax on wages

The formula, the tables and the W-4 describe state withholding only. We found no South Carolina city or county income tax on wages in them, which is not proof that none exists. This calculator adds no local line for South Carolina.

South Carolina hourly paycheck: what your rate is worth after tax

Why we ask for your hours instead of assuming 2,080

Many hourly calculators multiply your rate by 2,080 and call it a year. That is 40 hours a week for 52 weeks, which describes a full-time schedule, not every hourly job. If you work 32 hours a week, or 45 with overtime, the assumed figure is wrong before any tax is applied. The calculator above asks for your hours and uses them. In South Carolina your hours also matter because of the deductions: a single filer earning about $15,156 or less a year has no South Carolina tax withheld.

What is $20 an hour after taxes in South Carolina?

At 40 hours a week, $20 an hour is $41,600 a year gross. After federal tax, Social Security, Medicare and South Carolina income tax withholding, that leaves about $34,615 a year, or $2,884.61 a month. Your real hourly rate — what an hour of work actually puts in your bank account — is $16.64. South Carolina’s share is $990.30 of income tax withholding for the year.

What are $25 and $30 an hour after taxes in South Carolina?

$25 an hour is $52,000 gross and about $42,410 after tax, a real rate of $20.39. $30 an hour is $62,400 gross and about $50,205 after tax, a real rate of $24.14. South Carolina income tax withholding is $1,551.90 a year at $25 an hour, and $2,113.50 at $30.

Overtime and bonuses

The calculator multiplies your rate by the hours you enter and adds no overtime premium, and it does not model bonuses. We did not read a separate South Carolina rule for bonuses, so we do not describe one: ask your employer how it withholds on a bonus. If you work variable hours, enter the average number of hours you expect to work each week.

South Carolina take-home pay by hourly rate

Single filer, 40 hours a week (2,080 hours a year).

What this calculator does not cover

This tool models federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and the payroll programs your state actually runs — nothing more. It deliberately leaves out:

• Itemized deductions and federal tax credits — the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, education credits. The engine always applies the standard deduction; there is no itemizing path.
• A second job, self-employment income or 1099 pay. Every dollar you enter is treated as one employer’s W-2 wages, taxed at the employee share of Social Security and Medicare — not the self-employment tax a 1099 worker actually owes.
• Pre-tax benefits other than the 401(k) field — health insurance premiums, an HSA or FSA, commuter benefits. The only amount taken out before tax is the percentage you enter for a 401(k).
• Local taxes — the South Carolina withholding formula, tables and Form SC W-4 we read describe state withholding only, and we found no South Carolina city or county income tax on wages in them. That is not proof that none exists. This calculator adds no local line for South Carolina. The only local income tax lines on this site are on the Indiana and Maryland calculators.
• Overtime premiums. An hourly rate is multiplied by the hours you enter; it does not add a time-and-a-half rate for hours worked past 40 in a week.
• Wage garnishments or court-ordered deductions — child support, a wage levy. Your result assumes none exist.
• The Additional Medicare Tax, at the single-filer threshold. The 0.9% surtax above $200,000 is applied at that one figure for every filing status, the way an employer actually withholds it — not the higher threshold a married couple filing jointly may end up owing at tax return time.
• Married filing separately, or a qualifying surviving spouse. The calculator only offers single, married filing jointly, and head of household.

None of these are in the estimate. Some of them change what you owe or get back when you file, and a calculator cannot ask for everything they depend on. See why your pay stub will differ for the details.

Key facts that affect your take-home pay in South Carolina

The first $3,640 of what is left is not taxed

The table starts with a 0% step. With $10,000 of allowances and the 10% standard deduction, a single filer’s yearly pay has to pass about $15,156 before South Carolina withholds anything. At $17,000, South Carolina withholds $49.80; at $30,000, it withholds $400.80 a year.

The 6% step starts at about $31,367 of pay

The 3% step covers $14,590 of taxable pay and produces $437.70 of tax. Above $18,230 of taxable pay, every dollar costs 6%. For a single filer, that starts at about $31,367 of yearly pay; for a married or head-of-household filer with three allowances, at about $36,922.

The standard deduction stops growing at $75,000

Up to $75,000 of pay, the standard deduction is a tenth of it. After that it stays at $7,500. On $250,000 of pay, taxable pay is $250,000 − $10,000 − $7,500 = $232,500, and South Carolina withholds $13,293.90. Everything above $75,000 of pay is taxed at 6%, with no further deduction.

The married and head-of-household filer gets one more allowance

The table is the same for every filing status. A married filer with one job and a spouse who does not work, or a head of household with one job (our reading of line D, explained below), claims three allowances instead of two, so $15,000 comes off instead of $10,000. On $75,000 that is why South Carolina withholds $2,493.90 from either of them and $2,793.90 from a single filer. Taxable pay for the married filer is $52,500, of which $34,270 is in the 6% step.

Head of household uses the same table as everyone else

The worksheet gives a head of household one allowance on line C, and the formula does not change. Line D, the allowance for having one job, does not name head of household; we count an unmarried head of household as “single” there, which is our reading of the form. On $75,000, taxable pay is $52,500 and South Carolina withholds $2,493.90. The federal tax is lower for a head of household ($5,748.00 on $75,000), so take-home pay is $61,021.

Each allowance is worth up to $300.00 a year

Each dependent you claim on the worksheet adds an allowance of $5,000, and each dependent under six adds one more. In the 6% step, one allowance lowers yearly withholding by $300.00; in the 3% step it is $150.00. This calculator does not ask for dependents, so a worker with children who claims them on the SC W-4 will see less South Carolina tax withheld than the figure shown. The form says that the number of dependents on your South Carolina return must equal the number on your federal return.

Claiming zero allowances removes both deductions

The formula says the allowance is $0 if zero allowances are claimed, and so is the standard deduction. On $75,000, that means taxing the whole $75,000, and South Carolina would withhold $3,843.90 instead of $2,793.90, which is $1,050.00 more. With just one allowance, the formula gives $3,093.90.

With two jobs or a working spouse, the allowances go where you earn the most

The form says that if you have more than one job, or are married filing jointly and your spouse also works, you may want to claim allowances on the SC W-4 for the highest-paying job only, and add extra withholding on line 6. This calculator treats your pay as your only income, so it cannot show the effect. Line D of the worksheet, one allowance for having only one job, is what changes: it drops out if your spouse’s wages, your second job’s wages, or the total of both, are more than $1,500.

The printed tables round up to the next dollar

Every figure in the Department’s wage-bracket tables is a whole dollar, and we found that each one is the formula’s result for the middle of the pay range, rounded up. For $750 a week and 3 allowances the formula gives $10.58, and the table prints $11. The calculator above does not round, so it can differ from a printed table by about a dollar a paycheck.

Your 401(k) lowers your South Carolina taxable wages in this calculator

The formula says “gross wages” and gives no separate rule for 401(k) contributions. This calculator therefore starts from pay after a traditional 401(k) contribution, as it does in most states on this site, and takes the 10% standard deduction from that lower pay. On $75,000 with 6% going in, South Carolina income tax withholding falls by $243.00 a year. Enter 0 if your contribution is a Roth.

Social Security stops, Medicare does not

Social Security is withheld at 6.2% until your wages reach $184,500 in 2026, then stops for the rest of the year. Medicare has no ceiling at all: 1.45% on every dollar, plus an extra 0.9% on wages above $200,000. On $250,000, Social Security and Medicare take $15,514.00 in total.

Common mistakes

Forgetting the standard deduction

Subtracting only the allowances and applying the table to $65,000 overstates South Carolina withholding by $450.00: $3,243.90 instead of $2,793.90. The 10% standard deduction is part of the formula for anyone who claims at least one allowance.

Taxing everything at 6%

The 6% rate applies in full only to the part of taxable pay above $18,230, and the formula subtracts $656.10 to account for the lower steps. Applying 6% to all of $57,500 gives $3,450.00, which overstates withholding by $656.10.

Letting the standard deduction keep growing

It stops at $7,500. On $250,000, taking 10% instead, $25,000, would remove $17,500 too much from taxable pay and understate withholding by $1,050.00.

Claiming the extra allowance when your spouse works

Line D of the SC W-4 worksheet is for a spouse who does not work, or whose wages are $1,500 or less. If both of you work and one of you claims it anyway, one allowance too many comes off. On $75,000 that lowers withholding from $2,793.90 to $2,493.90, which is $300.00 too little withheld over a year. The shortfall can show up as a balance due when you file.

Applying the Act 110 rates to your paycheck

The 1.99% and 5.21% rates are for your tax return. We found no withholding tables published for them, and the Department’s formula still has 3% and 6% steps. Using the new rates on a paycheck would give a figure the Department has not published for employers.

Expecting the calculator to match the pay stub to the dollar

It will not, and no calculator can. Health insurance premiums and other pre-tax benefit deductions come out before tax and are not modeled here, and the allowances you claimed on your Form SC W-4 may differ from the ones we assume. Read why your pay stub will differ for the rest.

Example calculation

Amounts are shown to the cent, so adding the rounded lines can differ from the total by a cent.

A single filer earning $75,000 in South Carolina in 2026, with two allowances and no retirement contribution, under the Department’s formula:

• Federal taxable income: $75,000 − federal standard deduction of $16,100 = $58,900
• Federal income tax: $7,670.00
• Social Security: $75,000 × 6.2% = $4,650.00
• Medicare: $75,000 × 1.45% = $1,087.50
• Allowances: 2 × $5,000 = $10,000
• Standard deduction: 10% × $75,000 = $7,500, capped at $7,500
• South Carolina taxable pay: $75,000 − $10,000 − $7,500 = $57,500
• Tax on the first $3,640: $3,640 × 0% = $0.00
• Tax on the next $14,590: $14,590 × 3% = $437.70
• Tax on the remaining $39,270: $39,270 × 6% = $2,356.20
• South Carolina income tax withholding: $437.70 + $2,356.20 = $2,793.90 a year, $232.82 on a monthly paycheck or $107.46 on a biweekly one
• Total withheld: $16,201.40
• Take-home pay: $58,798.60 a year, or $4,899.88 a month
• Effective tax rate: 21.6%

Frequently asked questions

Compare with other states

The same $75,000 salary, single filer, 2026 rates. South Carolina borders two states, North Carolina and Georgia, and we have a calculator for both. Each row leaves out its own local taxes and optional employer deductions.

The table rounds take-home pay to the dollar; the differences in this paragraph use the exact amounts. Compared with a South Carolina worker on the same salary, a Georgia worker keeps about $200 less and a North Carolina worker keeps about $310 more. A worker who lives in one of those states and commutes into South Carolina, or the reverse, is a different case that this calculator does not model: it assumes a South Carolina resident working in South Carolina.

Sources

Every figure on this page is read from an official document and dated, not taken from another calculator — the federal ones from the IRS and the Social Security Administration, the South Carolina ones from the state’s own documents below. Each one carries the date we last checked that it still answers. If one of our numbers disagrees with one of theirs, they are right and we have a defect to fix — tell us.

The documents these figures are read from

• South Carolina Department of Revenue — Formula for Computing South Carolina 2026 Withholding Tax, WH-1603F (PDF, Rev. 11/4/25) — the formula: a $5,000 personal allowance for each allowance claimed, a standard deduction of 10% of gross wages up to $7,500 when one or more allowances are claimed, then 0% up to $3,640, 3% up to $18,230 and 6% above that, with the printed example of $750 a week and 3 allowances.
• South Carolina Department of Revenue — 2026 Withholding Tax Tables, WH-1603 (PDF, Rev. 10/30/25) — the printed daily, weekly, biweekly, twice-a-month and monthly wage-bracket tables for 0 to 10 allowances, and the 6.0% rate printed for pay above the last bracket.
• South Carolina Department of Revenue — 2026 Form SC W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate (PDF, Rev. 12/5/25) — the Personal Allowances Worksheet: one for yourself, one if you file jointly, one if you file as head of household, one if you have only one job (or a spouse who does not work), and one for each dependent.
• South Carolina Department of Revenue — SC Information Letter #26-20, Individual Income Tax Reform (PDF, August 31, 2026) — Act 110 of 2026: the new 1.99% and 5.21% rates for tax years beginning after 2025, and the statement that the Department will adjust the withholding tables to reflect the changes.
• South Carolina Code of Laws — Title 41, Chapter 31, Contributions (Section 41-31-310) — the rule that unemployment contributions are paid by each employer and shall not be deducted, in whole or in part, from the wages of the employer’s employees.
• IRS — 2026 inflation adjustments (Rev. Proc. 2025-32) — the federal brackets and the $16,100 standard deduction.
• IRS — Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates — the 6.2% and 1.45% rates and the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax.
• SSA — Contribution and benefit base — the $184,500 Social Security wage base.

The agencies that set them

These are the offices that set the figures. We link them so you can start from the source yourself, but an agency’s own summary page is not always current, and we do not claim that these pages carry the 2026 number — several of them do not. Where a rate was read somewhere else, in a statute, a withholding guide or an estimated-tax form, the exact document and the date we read it are on our methodology page.

• South Carolina Department of Revenue — Withholding Tax, with the 2026 withholding tables, formula and SC W-4.

All links checked October 20, 2026.

Related reading

• Paycheck calculators by state — the full index, including which states have no income tax at all.
• North Carolina paycheck calculator — the neighbor to the north.
• Georgia paycheck calculator — the neighbor to the south and west.
• $75,000 take-home pay in every state we publish — where South Carolina ranks on one salary.
• Methodology — the exact formula, every 2026 figure with its official source, and what these calculators deliberately do not model.
• Why your pay stub will differ — pre-tax deductions, credits and W-4 settings, and how much difference is normal.