South Carolina (SC) Paycheck Calculator 2026

South Carolina withholding in 2026: what changed

South Carolina rewrote its income tax in 2026, and your paycheck reflects it. Act 110, signed on March 30, 2026 and retroactive to January 1, replaced three brackets with two: 1.99% on taxable income under $30,000 and 5.21% (minus $966) once you reach $30,000. The top rate in 2025 was 6%.

The law told the Department of Revenue to adjust its withholding tables to match. If your employer only switched to the new tables partway through the year, some of your early-2026 paychecks were withheld under the old, higher rates. That extra withholding is not lost: it comes back as a refund or a smaller balance when you file your 2026 SC1040.

The SC W-4 and why it matters more now

Employers calculate South Carolina withholding from the state’s own SC W-4 and the SCDOR withholding tables or formula, which are published for 2026. Fill out a new SC W-4 if your household changed, or if you rely on deductions that South Carolina no longer allows.

That last point is new. From 2026, South Carolina starts from federal AGI and no longer uses the federal standard deduction, itemized deductions, or the federal tip, overtime, senior and car-loan interest deductions. Someone who earns substantial overtime or tips may see a federal tax cut from the up-to-$12,500 overtime deduction or the up-to-$25,000 tip deduction, but South Carolina will still tax that pay.

• Wages for work performed in South Carolina are taxed by South Carolina regardless of where you live (SCDOR).
• If you live in South Carolina but work in another state with an income tax, that state taxes the wages first and South Carolina generally gives a credit for the tax paid there.
• South Carolina has no local income taxes and no employee-paid disability or family leave payroll tax.

Monthly paycheck examples

The table shows 2026 monthly take-home pay for a single filer with no pre-tax deductions. The state column uses the full SC Income Adjusted Deduction; because that deduction phases out above $40,000 of AGI, real withholding for middle and higher incomes will be somewhat larger than shown.

Pay schedules and minimum wage in South Carolina

South Carolina does not set how often you must be paid. Instead, employers with five or more employees must tell you in writing at the time of hiring when and where you will be paid (U.S. Department of Labor summary of state payday laws).

South Carolina has no state minimum wage law, so the federal $7.25 an hour applies to most jobs. Overtime follows the federal Fair Labor Standards Act: time-and-a-half after 40 hours in a workweek for non-exempt employees.

Tips to get your South Carolina withholding right

• Lower earners benefit most from the 2026 changes. A single worker on $40,000 has about $498 of South Carolina tax in our estimate, roughly $19 per bi-weekly check.
• Middle earners lose part of the new deduction. On $90,000, the SCIAD is nearly gone, so withholding is closer to 5.21% of pay minus $966 than our full-deduction estimate of $2,942.
• Contributions to a traditional 401(k) (up to $24,500) reduce federal AGI, which reduces South Carolina tax and can also restore part of the phased-out SCIAD.
• If you had a large refund in 2025 because withholding ran too high, re-check your SC W-4 rather than waiting for another refund.