Highest Paying Jobs in South Carolina

Top 100 occupations ranked by median annual salary, Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025

Highest Salary

$359,500

General Internal Medicine Physicians

Top 25 Average

$229,254

median salary

$100K+ Jobs

occupations

Occupations

100

with wage data

This ranking surfaces the 100 highest-paying occupations in South Carolina by BLS OEWS state median salary, drawn from the May 2025 release. At the top, General Internal Medicine Physicians pays a state median of $359,500, +40% above the national median of $256,560 for the same role. Of the 100 tracked positions, 89 pay above $100,000 per year in South Carolina - a useful threshold for separating specialist professional roles from mid-tier employment. The top-10 average sits at $295,385, giving a sense of what elite specialists inside this state actually clear.

The "Difference" column compares each state median to the corresponding national median for the same SOC code, making pay premiums and discounts immediately visible. In this list, 32 of 100 occupations pay above the national median in South Carolina, which usually signals one of three things: a local concentration of specialized employers (finance hubs, tech clusters, research universities, federal agencies), a cost-of-living adjustment baked into state-wide wage scales, or scarce in-state talent supply bidding up competitive roles. Occupations paying below the national median are not necessarily bad news, they often reflect lower cost of living in the state or industries where South Carolina is not a concentrated employer.

Rankings like this show ceiling-potential by specialty, but they don't tell you the odds of landing one of those roles. Pair this table with the employment column (how many workers the state actually employs in each occupation) and the growth projections on each occupation's national page to see whether the field is expanding or contracting. BLS wages exclude benefits, bonuses, and overtime, especially distorting for top-paying roles where equity and performance compensation can represent 30-50% of total pay. Use this leaderboard to shortlist careers worth exploring in South Carolina, then drill into each row's linked profile to check percentile spread, typical education, metro-level variation, and whether projected openings match your timeline.

#	Occupation	State Median	National	Difference	Employment
1	General Internal Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$359,500	$256,560	+40% above	1,260
2	Neurologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$352,680	$248,560	+42% above	40
3	Emergency Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$341,960	$335,550	+2% above	80
4	Orthodontists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$311,450	$289,140	+8% above	N/A
5	Obstetricians and Gynecologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$302,340	$292,910	+3% above	350
6	Physicians, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$274,480	$265,930	+3% above	4,510
7	Nurse Anesthetists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$265,480	$236,590	+12% above	1,010
8	Dermatologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$259,990	$328,730	21% below	180
9	Dentists, All Other Specialists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$246,770	$224,990	+10% above	70
10	Family Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$239,200	$244,180	2% below	1,200
11	Anesthesiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$238,970	$391,490	39% below	950
12	Psychiatrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$237,250	$281,870	16% below	200
13	Physicians, Pathologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$236,950	$312,400	24% below	80
14	Pediatricians, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$217,120	$210,040	+3% above	420
15	Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$214,160	$300,080	29% below	100
16	Radiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$174,480	$420,860	59% below	N/A
17	Life Scientists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$169,440	$93,750	+81% above	N/A
18	Architectural and Engineering Managers Management Occupations	$169,040	$171,270	1% below	3,200
19	Chief Executives Management Occupations	$168,840	$213,990	21% below	1,740
20	Podiatrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$167,110	$160,300	+4% above	70
21	Law Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$162,400	$128,500	+26% above	110
22	Computer and Information Systems Managers Management Occupations	$160,860	$175,140	8% below	4,930
23	Dentists, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$158,640	$170,950	7% below	2,140
24	Advertising and Promotions Managers Management Occupations	$156,300	$133,660	+17% above	N/A
25	Optometrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$145,950	$136,570	+7% above	480
26	Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$143,580	$232,140	38% below	110
27	Marketing Managers Management Occupations	$143,290	$166,790	14% below	3,760
28	Physical Scientists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$141,130	$122,570	+15% above	70
29	Medical Dosimetrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$140,530	$147,470	5% below	60
30	Physicists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$138,400	$172,250	20% below	420
31	Aerospace Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$137,030	$134,960	+2% above	650
32	Marine Engineers and Naval Architects Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$136,990	$112,230	+22% above	40
33	Psychologists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$136,990	$110,840	+24% above	140
34	Financial Managers Management Occupations	$136,160	$166,570	18% below	9,020
35	Pharmacists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$135,700	$140,910	4% below	5,320
36	Computer Network Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$134,990	$134,050	+1% above	1,950
37	Purchasing Managers Management Occupations	$131,720	$148,080	11% below	830
38	Natural Sciences Managers Management Occupations	$131,140	$167,220	22% below	780
39	Sales Managers Management Occupations	$131,080	$148,270	12% below	9,340
40	Database Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$130,000	$139,500	7% below	1,160
41	Managers, All Other Management Occupations	$129,960	$141,900	8% below	2,210
42	Software Developers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$129,450	$135,980	5% below	13,230
43	Computer and Information Research Scientists Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$126,980	$140,300	9% below	430
44	Industrial Production Managers Management Occupations	$126,880	$126,060	+1% above	6,390
45	Nuclear Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$126,570	$133,970	6% below	1,440
46	Computer Hardware Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$125,110	$161,740	23% below	690
47	Administrative Services Managers Management Occupations	$124,320	$114,130	+9% above	N/A
48	Human Resources Managers Management Occupations	$124,290	$149,280	17% below	2,400
49	Nurse Practitioners Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$123,290	$132,300	7% below	5,670
50	Physician Assistants Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$122,490	$135,880	10% below	2,250
51	Nurse Midwives Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$122,390	$134,040	9% below	100
52	Veterinarians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$122,130	$130,100	6% below	1,380
53	Materials Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$121,610	$112,860	+8% above	600
54	Lawyers Legal Occupations	$120,310	$159,670	25% below	7,890
55	Training and Development Managers Management Occupations	$119,460	$133,000	10% below	610
56	Nuclear Power Reactor Operators Production Occupations	$118,620	$122,890	3% below	320
57	Sales Engineers Sales and Related Occupations	$114,250	$124,900	9% below	770
58	Electronics Engineers, Except Computer Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$113,720	$130,220	13% below	1,030
59	Computer Occupations, All Other Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$112,260	$116,580	4% below	4,300
60	Air Traffic Controllers Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$112,030	$148,080	24% below	190
61	Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products Sales and Related Occupations	$111,190	$104,920	+6% above	3,760
62	Engineers, All Other Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$110,490	$122,930	10% below	1,280
63	Biochemists and Biophysicists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$109,080	$127,410	14% below	60
64	Economics Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$109,060	$123,920	12% below	110
65	Food Scientists and Technologists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$108,660	$88,720	+22% above	90
66	Nuclear Technicians Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$108,490	$110,240	2% below	750
67	Construction Managers Management Occupations	$108,110	$114,990	6% below	5,620
68	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers Management Occupations	$106,860	$107,230	same as	3,460
69	General and Operations Managers Management Occupations	$106,080	$105,770	same as	32,230
70	Information Security Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$105,800	$129,180	18% below	1,720
71	Commercial Pilots Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$105,740	$123,220	14% below	290
72	Medical and Health Services Managers Management Occupations	$105,620	$123,860	15% below	9,350
73	Public Relations Managers Management Occupations	$104,920	$146,910	29% below	650
74	Mechanical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$104,580	$104,110	same as	5,780
75	Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$104,120	$115,160	10% below	280
76	Facilities Managers Management Occupations	$103,940	$106,660	3% below	1,750
77	Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$103,420	$109,270	5% below	490
78	Fundraising Managers Management Occupations	$103,240	$125,470	18% below	220
79	Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary Management Occupations	$102,440	$105,870	3% below	5,000
80	Materials Scientists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$101,930	$117,790	13% below	80
81	Civil Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$101,600	$100,840	+1% above	7,180
82	Chemical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$101,570	$125,040	19% below	390
83	Architects, Except Landscape and Naval Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$101,550	$99,280	+2% above	1,030
84	Physical Therapists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$101,330	$102,760	1% below	3,930
85	Occupational Therapists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$101,130	$100,330	+1% above	1,840
86	Industrial Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$101,060	$102,440	1% below	7,960
87	Radiation Therapists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$100,790	$105,310	4% below	200
88	Management Analysts Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$100,660	$101,860	1% below	12,340
89	Social Work Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$100,400	$77,570	+29% above	80
90	Computer Programmers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$99,740	$100,390	1% below	790
91	Compensation and Benefits Managers Management Occupations	$99,630	$149,230	33% below	330
92	Environmental Science Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$99,540	$94,980	+5% above	130
93	Financial Risk Specialists Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$99,520	$117,330	15% below	560
94	Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$99,130	$109,370	9% below	70
95	Postmasters and Mail Superintendents Management Occupations	$98,940	$96,660	+2% above	210
96	Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$98,790	$106,220	7% below	40
97	Electrical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$98,440	$120,630	18% below	3,490
98	Computer Systems Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$98,280	$105,850	7% below	7,700
99	Ship Engineers Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$97,890	$109,530	11% below	80
100	Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$97,500	$104,300	7% below	1,740

More ways to explore South Carolina pay and compare with national data.

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General Internal Medicine Physicians

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About This Data

All salary data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. State-level data reflects wages for workers employed in South Carolina. The "Difference" column shows how South Carolina pay compares to the national median for that occupation.

Every figure on WageDex is rendered directly from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, no number is typed in by an editor. These figures are computed directly from BLS OEWS state-level wage data. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 2025.

Compiled by WageDex Editorial, Occupational Wages Editorial Team · May 15, 2026

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