Teacher salary in South Carolina: what each kind of teacher earns.
There is no single teacher wage. Here is the BLS median for each kind of teacher in South Carolina, how many people do the work there, and how it compares with the national figure.
$30,400 – $72,120
Range of medians across the 13 teacher occupations BLS publishes for South Carolina. No BLS figure combines them.
BLS publishes no single “teacher” wage for South Carolina. Across the 13 teacher occupations with a published May 2025 median in South Carolina, median annual pay ran from $30,400 (“substitute teachers, short-term”) to $72,120 (“career/technical education teachers, secondary school”). “Elementary school teachers, except special education”, the largest of them in South Carolina (25,030 employed), earned a median of $60,820, compared with $63,970 nationally.
Teachers in South Carolina at a glance
“Elementary school teachers, except special education” are the largest teacher occupation with a published median in South Carolina, with 25,030 employed and a median annual wage of $60,820 in May 2025 (BLS).
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Among the teacher occupations with a published median in South Carolina, “career/technical education teachers, secondary school” had the highest: $72,120 (May 2025, BLS).
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
2 of the 13 teacher occupations with a published median in South Carolina were paid above their own national median in May 2025 (BLS).
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Nationally, BLS publishes a median of $63,250 for its preschool, elementary, middle, secondary, and special education teachers group; BLS publishes no state figure for that group, so this page shows each occupation separately.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
What each kind of teacher earns in South Carolina
Data One row per BLS occupation with a published state median, sorted by median annual pay. Hourly pay is shown only where BLS publishes it.
| Occupation (BLS title) | Median annual pay, South Carolina | Median hourly | Employed in South Carolina | National median | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career/Technical Education Teachers, Secondary School | $72,120 | annual only | 1,150 | $66,270 | +9% vs national |
| Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English as a Second Language Instructors | $62,940 | $30.26 | 480 | $61,540 | +2% vs national |
| Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education | $62,580 | annual only | 16,080 | $72,040 | -13% vs national |
| Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten and Elementary School | $62,360 | annual only | 2,950 | $65,120 | -4% vs national |
| Special Education Teachers, Middle School | $62,310 | annual only | 980 | $66,810 | -7% vs national |
| Career/Technical Education Teachers, Middle School | $62,160 | annual only | 170 | $65,030 | -4% vs national |
| Special Education Teachers, Secondary School | $62,150 | annual only | 1,780 | $74,260 | -16% vs national |
| Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education | $60,890 | annual only | 1,540 | $62,680 | -3% vs national |
| Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education | $60,820 | annual only | 25,030 | $63,970 | -5% vs national |
| Middle School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education | $60,810 | annual only | 9,750 | $64,370 | -6% vs national |
| Special Education Teachers, Preschool | $59,800 | annual only | 170 | $64,830 | -8% vs national |
| Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education | $34,500 | $16.59 | 4,550 | $38,140 | -10% vs national |
| Substitute Teachers, Short-Term | $30,400 | $14.62 | 7,700 | $41,670 | -27% vs national |
Data The other 1 teacher occupation on the national page, and what BLS publishes for South Carolina:
- no estimate in BLS's May 2025 file for South Carolina: Special Education Teachers, All Other.
How this page is built
Pay and employment are BLS OEWS state estimates for South Carolina, May 2025, for each BLS detailed occupation on the national Teachers page. BLS publishes no teacher-wide state figure; nothing on this page is averaged or combined by TryHired. “Difference” compares each occupation's state median with its own national median. Top-coded medians (BLS “#”) are shown as “$239,200 a year or more”, never as a number.
- Pay at a specific employer, hospital system, union contract or school district.
- Pay in a specific city: metro figures differ from the state median.
- Licensing rules in South Carolina.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).