South Carolina tax brackets
The 2026 schedule, moved from taxable income into the salary you actually know, and what it takes at seven incomes.
Written and edited by Pablo Ruiz QuinteroSources checked September 24, 2026Read off the South Carolina General Assembly’s 2026 scheduleSouth Carolina tax brackets for 2026
South Carolina taxes income in two brackets for 2026. Married couples filing jointly use the same thresholds as single filers, with a two wage earner credit of up to $350 when both earn.
| Rate | Taxable income, single or joint |
|---|---|
| 1.99% | $0 – $30,000 |
| 5.21% | over $30,000 |
The top rate of 5.21% applies above $30,000 of taxable income.
Taxable income is what is left after a standard deduction of $15,000 for a single filer and $30,000 for a couple. The deduction shrinks as income rises: it starts to fall at $40,000 of adjusted gross income for a single filer and is gone at $95,000; for a couple it falls from $80,000 and is gone at $190,000.
South Carolina rebuilt its income tax for 2026 under H. 4216, signed 30 March 2026: 1.99% below $30,000 and 5.21% above, for every filing status. The federal standard deduction is replaced by the South Carolina Income Adjusted Deduction — $15,000 single, $30,000 joint — which shrinks as income rises and is gone at $95,000 of adjusted gross income for a single filer and $190,000 for a couple. Couples in which both spouses earn get a two wage earner credit of 0.7% of the lower earner's wages up to $50,000 (at most $350), included here for the income split given.
Where each rate starts on your actual salary
The brackets are written in taxable income, and nobody knows their taxable income by heart — everyone knows their salary. The gap between the two is whatever comes off before the rate is applied: in South Carolina, up to $15,000 for a single filer and $30,000 for a couple, less as income rises. So the schedule is read wrongly by construction, and the fix is to shift it — by a different amount at every salary, because the deduction shrinks, which is exactly why the table below is worked out salary by salary.
The table below moves every threshold into salary terms. The first dollar of tax is owed at a gross income of $15,001 for a single filer and $36,403 for a couple.
| Rate | Single, salary | Joint, combined salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1.99% | $15,000 – $43,930 | $30,000 – $60,000 |
| 5.21% | over $43,930 | over $60,000 |
These are wage figures, and they assume the income South Carolina starts from equals your salary with nothing taken out before it. Anything the state lets you subtract first moves every one of these lines up by the same amount — and the list is not the same in every state, which is why it is worth checking yours rather than assuming the federal one applies.
One salary through the whole calculation
Here is a single filer earning $75,000 in wages, step by step, exactly as the calculation runs.
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross wages | $75,000 |
| Standard deduction | −$5,460 |
| Taxable income | $69,540 |
| $30,000 at 1.99% | $597 |
| $39,540 at 5.21% | $2,060 |
| South Carolina income tax | $2,657 |
The result: $2,657 of South Carolina income tax, an effective rate of 3.54% on the salary, with two brackets each taxing its own slice.
Every figure on this page is this same sequence run at a different salary. None of it is estimated from an average: change the brackets in the source and every number here changes with them.
What South Carolina takes at seven salaries
The rate in the schedule is not the rate you pay. Here is the 2026 South Carolina income tax at seven salaries, for a single filer and for a married couple filing jointly on the same household income, with the effective rate — tax divided by gross income — and the marginal rate measured on the next $1,000 rather than read off the schedule.
| Salary | Effective | Marginal | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | 1% | 1.99% | $25 | $299 |
| $50,000 | 2% | 6.67% | $83 | $999 |
| $75,000 | 3.54% | 6.62% | $221 | $2,657 |
| $100,000 | 4.24% | 5.21% | $354 | $4,244 |
| $125,000 | 4.44% | 5.21% | $462 | $5,547 |
| $150,000 | 4.57% | 5.21% | $571 | $6,849 |
| $200,000 | 4.73% | 5.21% | $788 | $9,454 |
| Household salary | Effective | Marginal | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | 0% | 0% | $0 | $0 |
| $50,000 | 0.45% | 1.64% | $19 | $223 |
| $75,000 | 1.49% | 4.86% | $93 | $1,116 |
| $100,000 | 2.61% | 6.62% | $218 | $2,615 |
| $125,000 | 3.42% | 6.62% | $356 | $4,273 |
| $150,000 | 3.95% | 6.62% | $494 | $5,931 |
| $200,000 | 4.55% | 5.21% | $759 | $9,104 |
Notice that the effective rate never catches the marginal one. At $100,000 a single filer's marginal rate is 5.21% and the effective rate 4.24%; at $200,000 the effective rate is still 4.73%. Every bracket below yours is taxed at its own lower rate, whatever you earn.
The joint figures assume two earners who split the household income evenly, because in South Carolina the two wage earner credit, 0.7% of the lower earner's wages up to $50,000, goes only to couples in which both earn. How much the split matters is set out [below](#income-split).
The table stops at $200,000 on purpose. Above roughly $250,000 some states start withdrawing deductions and exemptions, and a figure for those incomes should come from the full calculator, which asks for the details that decide it.
Take-home pay in South Carolina at seven salaries
The state income tax is one of four taxes on a paycheck. Here is what a single filer keeps once South Carolina, federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare have all come off, and what share of the combined bill South Carolina accounts for.
| Salary | SC | Federal | SS + Medicare | Take-home |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $299 | $1,420 | $2,295 | $25,986 |
| $50,000 | $999 | $3,820 | $3,825 | $41,356 |
| $75,000 | $2,657 | $7,670 | $5,738 | $58,935 |
| $100,000 | $4,244 | $13,170 | $7,650 | $74,936 |
| $125,000 | $5,547 | $18,734 | $9,563 | $91,156 |
| $150,000 | $6,849 | $24,734 | $11,475 | $106,942 |
| $200,000 | $9,454 | $36,734 | $14,339 | $139,473 |
South Carolina's slice of the total is smallest at the bottom of the scale and grows as pay rises: 7.45% of the taxes on $30,000, 15.62% on $200,000. Over this range the South Carolina tax rises faster with pay than the federal and payroll taxes put together, so its share of the bill grows.
Three South Carolina households
Averages hide the households they are made of. Three typical ones, each with every tax on their wages:
A single filer earning $40,000: South Carolina $498, federal income tax $2,620, Social Security and Medicare $3,060 — $6,178 in all, leaving $33,822 ($2,819 a month). The state is 8.06% of what they pay.
A married couple earning $60,000 and $35,000, filing jointly: South Carolina $2,389, federal income tax $7,040, Social Security and Medicare $7,268 — $16,697 in all, leaving $78,303 ($6,525 a month). The state is 14.31% of what they pay.
A single professional earning $180,000: South Carolina $8,412, federal income tax $31,934, Social Security and Medicare $13,770 — $54,116 in all, leaving $125,884 ($10,490 a month). The state is 15.54% of what they pay.
In all three, Social Security and Medicare take more than South Carolina does. The payroll taxes have no deduction at all and start on the first dollar, which is why they are the largest tax many lower earners pay.
South Carolina income tax at every $10,000
For a salary between the seven above, here is the single-filer figure in $10,000 steps, from $20,000 to $200,000.
| Salary | Per month | Effective | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20,000 | $8 | 0.5% | $100 |
| $30,000 | $25 | 1% | $299 |
| $40,000 | $42 | 1.24% | $498 |
| $50,000 | $83 | 2% | $999 |
| $60,000 | $139 | 2.77% | $1,662 |
| $70,000 | $194 | 3.32% | $2,326 |
| $80,000 | $249 | 3.74% | $2,988 |
| $90,000 | $304 | 4.06% | $3,652 |
| $100,000 | $354 | 4.24% | $4,244 |
| $110,000 | $397 | 4.33% | $4,765 |
| $120,000 | $441 | 4.41% | $5,286 |
| $130,000 | $484 | 4.47% | $5,807 |
| $140,000 | $527 | 4.52% | $6,328 |
| $150,000 | $571 | 4.57% | $6,849 |
| $160,000 | $614 | 4.61% | $7,370 |
| $170,000 | $658 | 4.64% | $7,891 |
| $180,000 | $701 | 4.67% | $8,412 |
| $190,000 | $744 | 4.7% | $8,933 |
| $200,000 | $788 | 4.73% | $9,454 |
Between two steps the tax moves in a straight line at the marginal rate, so for $64,000 take the $60,000 figure and add 6.62% of the extra $4,000.
Per paycheck, and why your withholding will not match exactly
Spread over 26 biweekly paychecks, a single filer's South Carolina income tax comes to about $12 at $30,000, $38 at $50,000, $102 at $75,000, $163 at $100,000, $213 at $125,000.
On other pay schedules, the $75,000 figure of $2,657 a year works out to about $51 a week, $111 twice a month, or $221 once a month. The annual total is the same whichever way it is paid; only the slices change.
| Salary | Weekly | Every 2 weeks | Twice a month | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | $6 | $12 | $12 | $25 |
| $50,000 | $19 | $38 | $42 | $83 |
| $75,000 | $51 | $102 | $111 | $221 |
| $100,000 | $82 | $163 | $177 | $354 |
| $125,000 | $107 | $213 | $231 | $462 |
| $150,000 | $132 | $263 | $285 | $571 |
| $200,000 | $182 | $364 | $394 | $788 |
What your employer actually withholds is set by the state's withholding formula, which is built to land close to these annual figures but is not the same calculation — it works one paycheck at a time and relies on the form you filled in when you started the job. The gap between the two comes back at filing time as a refund or a bill. The South Carolina refund estimator runs that reconciliation for your own figures.
What each bracket costs in dollars
A bracket is a slice, and each full slice has a fixed price. For a single filer, the table gives what each slice costs once it is full, and the running total by the time you reach its top.
| Rate | Taxable income | Full slice | Total at its top |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.99% | $0 – $30,000 | $597 | $597 |
| 5.21% | over $30,000 | no ceiling | — |
Those running totals are the fixed amount owed on everything below a given threshold. From there, only the part of your income inside your own bracket is taxed at its rate.
Moving into a higher bracket
The belief that a raise can cost you money because it "pushes you into a higher bracket" is the most common misreading of a schedule, and South Carolina's shows why it is wrong.
A single filer's 5.21% rate starts at $43,930 of salary. At $42,930 the South Carolina tax is $572; at $44,930 it is $663. The extra $2,000 of pay cost $91 — part at the old rate, part at the new one — and not a cent more on the income below.
Only the dollars inside a bracket pay that bracket's rate. Crossing a threshold changes the price of the next dollar, never of the ones already earned.
Three ways to misread the South Carolina schedule
Applying the rate to your salary. 5.21% of a $75,000 salary is $3,908; the real South Carolina tax on it is $2,657. The shortcut overstates the bill by $1,251, 47.08% too high, because it skips everything that comes off first and taxes every dollar at the top rate.
Confusing the effective rate with the marginal one. At $75,000 the combined effective income tax rate, federal plus South Carolina, is 13.77%; the combined marginal rate is 28.62%. The first says how much of the salary goes in income tax; the second what the next dollar costs. Pricing a raise or a pre-tax contribution with the first is the classic slip.
Assuming last year's figures still hold. Thresholds and rates are set per tax year; everything on this page is for 2026, from the South Carolina source checked on 2026-09-24.
What you keep from a $5,000 raise
The combined marginal rate is abstract; a raise is not. Here is where an extra $5,000 of salary goes for a single filer, with federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare all measured on the same two salaries:
From $50,000 to $55,000: South Carolina $332, federal income tax $600, Social Security and Medicare $383 — you keep $3,685, or 73.7% of the raise.
From $100,000 to $105,000: South Carolina $261, federal income tax $1,100, Social Security and Medicare $383 — you keep $3,256, or 65.12% of the raise.
South Carolina's share is 6.64% of the raise at $50,000 and 5.21% at $100,000. The federal share is the one that moves most between the two salaries, because the federal schedule has more steps.
Married filing jointly: does South Carolina penalise it?
Married couples filing jointly use exactly the same thresholds as single filers — they are not doubled. For a couple with two earners, a two wage earner credit of 0.7% of the lower earner's wages, up to $350, takes back part of the penalty, and the figures below include it.
Measured on a household earning $100,000: split evenly, two single people would pay $1,998 between them; married and filing jointly they pay $2,615. That is a marriage penalty of $617 a year at the state level.
With the same $100,000 earned by one partner alone, a single filer would pay $4,244; the couple pays $2,965, so filing jointly with a non-earning spouse is worth $1,279 a year in South Carolina tax. All of it comes from the second deduction, since the rates are the same.
How the split between two incomes changes it
In South Carolina the split matters even on a joint return, because the two wage earner credit, 0.7% of the lower earner's wages up to $50,000, goes only to couples in which both earn. A married couple on $100,000 pays between $2,615 and $2,790 depending on how the income divides between two earners, and $2,965 with one. Two unmarried partners file separately, and the table sets the two side by side for four ways of dividing the same $100,000.
| Split | Two single filers | Married, jointly | Marriage |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 / $0 | $4,244 | $2,965 | saves $1,279 |
| $75,000 / $25,000 | $2,856 | $2,790 | saves $66 |
| $60,000 / $40,000 | $2,160 | $2,685 | costs $525 |
| $50,000 / $50,000 | $1,998 | $2,615 | costs $617 |
The more lopsided the split, the more a joint return is worth, because it lets the lower earner's unused deduction absorb part of the higher earner's income. These are South Carolina figures only; the federal return has its own, separate version of the same effect.
South Carolina and federal brackets together
Every extra dollar is taxed by both. The combined marginal income tax rate — federal plus South Carolina — is 13.99% at $30,000 and 29.21% at $200,000 for a single filer, and the table shows every step in between.
| Salary | Federal | South Carolina | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | 12% | 1.99% | 13.99% |
| $50,000 | 12% | 6.67% | 18.67% |
| $75,000 | 22% | 6.62% | 28.62% |
| $100,000 | 22% | 5.21% | 27.21% |
| $125,000 | 24% | 5.21% | 29.21% |
| $150,000 | 24% | 5.21% | 29.21% |
| $200,000 | 24% | 5.21% | 29.21% |
On top of that come Social Security (6.2% up to the wage base) and Medicare (1.45%, plus 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages above $200,000 for a single filer). And the deduction for state income tax on a federal return only helps if you itemise — most people take the federal standard deduction and get nothing back for the state tax they paid.
The federal brackets step up at different points from the South Carolina ones, so the combined rate changes in more places than either schedule alone. Planning a raise or a bonus around one table is how people misjudge what they will keep.
How South Carolina ranks
On a $75,000 salary, single, South Carolina takes $2,657 — the 20th lowest of the 42 jurisdictions that charge anything at that salary, with nine taking nothing at all. The middle of those 42 takes $2,802, so South Carolina is $145 below it.
The position is not fixed; it moves with the salary: 3rd lowest at $50,000, 20th lowest at $75,000, 22nd lowest at $150,000. South Carolina moves toward the expensive end as income rises: what keeps it cheap at low pay is the amount that comes off first, and that matters less the more you earn.
At that salary the range among states that charge anything runs from $182 in North Dakota to $5,055 in Oregon, which puts South Carolina 50.79% of the way from the cheapest to the dearest.
Within $250 of it at $75,000: North Carolina ($2,484), Vermont ($2,490), Kentucky ($2,507), Nebraska ($2,533). States that look different on paper often end up a few hundred dollars apart, because the deduction moves the bill as much as the rate does.
For 2026, 13 states tax wages at a single rate, 29 jurisdictions use brackets and 9 have no tax on wages at all, so South Carolina is one of the 29 with brackets.
The 2026 brackets for every state are on one page, and the state income tax comparison ranks all 51 at the salary you choose.
What this page leaves out
Head of household and married filing separately. This page publishes the two schedules that were read at source, single and joint, and nothing for the other two statuses rather than a guess.
Dependents and credits. Credits for children, earned income, retirement income and the rest depend on your household, not on the brackets, and are left to the South Carolina income tax calculator.
Income that is not wages. Retirement income, capital gains and business income can be treated differently in South Carolina from a salary. Everything above is for wages.
Other tax years. Every figure here is for the 2026 tax year, the return filed in 2027. A return for an earlier year has to be worked out with that year's rates and thresholds, which is exactly where copied tables go wrong.
Where these brackets come from
Read off the South Carolina General Assembly's own 2026 figures, [www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/4216.htm](https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126_2025-2026/bills/4216.htm), checked on 2026-09-24. Both the single and the joint rules were verified against that source before this page was published — a state whose joint schedule has not been read does not get a brackets page here yet, and neither does one whose rules our engine still simplifies.
Every dollar figure on this page is computed by the same engine as the South Carolina income tax calculator, from the brackets above, so the two cannot disagree. If South Carolina changes a rate or a threshold, this page changes with the data.
Where to go next
Questions
- What are the South Carolina tax brackets for 2026?
- South Carolina has two brackets for single filers in 2026: 1.99% up to $30,000, 5.21% above $30,000 of taxable income.
- What is the South Carolina income tax rate for 2026?
- From 1.99% to 5.21%, depending on the bracket. The top rate applies above $30,000 of taxable income for a single filer.
- Is South Carolina a flat tax state?
- No. South Carolina uses two brackets, from 1.99% up to 5.21%.
- At what income do you start paying South Carolina income tax?
- A single filer with only wage income owes the first dollar of South Carolina tax at a gross income of about $15,001, and a married couple filing jointly at about $36,403.
- How much South Carolina income tax do you pay on $100,000?
- A single filer earning $100,000 in wages pays about $4,244 in South Carolina income tax for 2026, an effective rate of 4.24%. A married couple filing jointly on the same household income pays about $2,615.
- Is South Carolina income tax high or low?
- On a $75,000 salary, single, South Carolina takes $2,657 — in the middle of the 42 jurisdictions that tax wages (20th lowest), against $2,802 for the middle one. Nine take nothing at that salary.
- How much is South Carolina state tax per paycheck?
- On a $75,000 salary paid every two weeks, a single filer's South Carolina income tax comes to about $102 a paycheck, or $221 a month. Actual withholding follows the state's own formula and can differ slightly; the difference is settled when you file.
- What is the South Carolina standard deduction for 2026?
- $15,000 for a single filer and $30,000 for a married couple filing jointly. It comes off before any bracket is applied. It shrinks as income rises, from $40,000 of adjusted gross income for a single filer (gone at $95,000) and from $80,000 for a couple (gone at $190,000).
- Are South Carolina tax brackets different for married couples?
- Married couples filing jointly use exactly the same thresholds as single filers — they are not doubled. For a couple with two earners, a two wage earner credit of 0.7% of the lower earner's wages, up to $350, takes back part of the penalty.