Median pay · South Carolina
$102,440A year. BLS publishes no hourly wage for this occupation.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile1 in 10 earn less | $75,810 | Not published |
| 25th percentile | $84,720 | Not published |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $102,440 | Not published |
| 75th percentile | $122,580 | Not published |
| 90th percentile1 in 10 earn more | $134,490 | Not published |
| MeanAll pay divided by all jobs | $105,080 | Not published |
Wage survey · BLS May 2025
How we got this
- Median wage in South CarolinaBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of the people in this job were paid more than this, half less.$102,440
- Take-home after federal, state and FICA tax$6,377 a month at an effective rate of 25.3%.$76,525 a year
- Worth at national average pricesPrices in South Carolina sit at 93.7 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$109,270
- Against the national medianThe national median is $105,870.3.2% below
- Jobs countedA concentration of 1.03 against the nation's 1.00.5,000
What we assumed
- Wages are BLS OEWS survey estimates for May 2025, not job postings or offers.
- OEWS surveys wage and salary workers. The self-employed and business owners are outside it.
- Take-home assumes one 2026 filer, filing single, taking the standard deduction, with no dependents, pre-tax retirement contributions or local income tax.
- BLS publishes only an annual wage for this occupation, because a standard 2,080-hour year would misdescribe it.
- Regional price parities compare price levels between places in one year. They are not inflation, and they do not adjust for what a household actually buys.
Technical details
Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1
What lands in the bank
Tax year 2026 · InteractiveEstimated on the median salary of $102,440 in South Carolina, for a single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026. Explore other wage levels and filing statuses below.
Run the numbers on your own pay
Same U.S. tax tables as the rest of the site. Change the salary, state, or filing status.
What $102,440 is worth in South Carolina
Prices in South Carolina sit at 93.7 against a national average of 100, so $102,440 earned here buys what $109,270 buys at national average prices.
- Rents. 80.5 against 100, the component that moves most between states.
- Against local households. The median household in South Carolina takes in $69,324, so this occupation's median is 1.48 times that, on one income.
- How common the job is here. 3% more concentrated in South Carolina than in the country as a whole.
Reading the numbers
What stands out for school principals or district administrators in South Carolina
Rents in South Carolina index at 80.5 (U.S. = 100) while prices overall index at 93.7, a gap of -13.3 pts. For a renter, housing moves the local cost of living more than anything else.
One median paycheck here is 1.5 times the median household income in South Carolina ($69,324), a figure that counts every earner in the home.
Even the lowest-paid 10% of school principals or district administrators in South Carolina make at least $75,810 a year.
Common questions
School Principal or District Administrator pay in South Carolina, answered
How much does a school principal or district administrator make in South Carolina?
The median wage for school principals or district administrators in South Carolina is $102,440 a year.
Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.
What is the average school principal or district administrator salary in South Carolina?
BLS’s mean (average) wage for school principals or district administrators in South Carolina is $105,080 a year. The median is $102,440.
The mean sits higher when a smaller group of high earners pulls the average up. For a typical paycheck, the median is the better middle.
What is the starting salary for a school principal or district administrator in South Carolina?
BLS does not publish starting pay. The closest figure it does publish is the low end of the range: in South Carolina, the lowest-paid 10% of school principals or district administrators earn under $75,810 a year and a quarter earn under $84,720.
New hires often start somewhere in that band, but the May 2025 survey does not record experience, so read it as a floor to compare an offer against rather than a typical first salary.
What is the salary range for a school principal or district administrator in South Carolina?
The overall salary range for school principals or district administrators in South Carolina spans from $75,810 for the bottom 10% to $134,490 for top earners.
The middle 50% earn between $84,720 and $122,580 a year, with the overall median at $102,440.
What is the take-home pay for a school principal or district administrator in South Carolina?
On the median wage of $102,440, a single filer taking the 2026 standard deduction keeps an estimated $76,525 a year, or roughly $6,377 a month.
That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 25.3%.
South Carolina takes $4,371 of it in state income tax.
How much does a school principal or district administrator make a month in South Carolina?
On the median annual salary of $102,440, estimated take-home pay is roughly $6,377 a month after federal, state, and FICA taxes.
For workers paid on a standard biweekly schedule (26 pay periods per year), each paycheck is approximately $2,943 net.
Do school principals or district administrators earn more in South Carolina than in the rest of the country?
No. The median in South Carolina is 3.2% below the national median of $105,870.
Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in South Carolina sit at 93.7 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.
Is $102,440 a good salary in South Carolina?
It is 1.48 times the median household income of $69,324. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.
Prices in South Carolina run at 93.7 against a national average of 100, with rents at 80.5, so $102,440 here buys about what $109,270 buys at national average prices.
What do the highest-paid school principals or district administrators earn in South Carolina?
The top tenth earn $134,490 a year or more. The 10th-percentile wage is $75,810.
Experience, specialty, employer and the part of South Carolina someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.
How many school principals or district administrators are there in South Carolina?
The survey counted 5,000 of these jobs in South Carolina for May 2025.
That makes the occupation 3% more concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.