South Carolina Minimum Wage 2026
Figure basis: Official US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour DivisionSouth Carolina has no state minimum wage law, so the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour applies to most South Carolina workers. This South Carolina minimum wage calculator turns that hourly rate into the numbers that actually matter to you: weekly, monthly and yearly pay. At $7.25 an hour, someone working a full 40-hour week earns about $290.00 before tax, or roughly $15,080.00 across a full year. Enter your own hours per week and weeks worked to see your gross pay, and edit the rate if you are paid above the minimum. The minimum wage is a floor, not a ceiling: employers can pay more, and some cities in South Carolina set their own higher local minimums. Tipped workers can be paid a lower cash wage as long as tips bring them up to the minimum; see the tipped calculator for that. The figure here is the state rate for 2026, sourced directly from the US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division; the pay calculation is simply hours times the rate.
South Carolina's 2026 minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Full time (40 hrs/week) that is about $290.00 a week and $15,080.00 a year before tax.
How South Carolina minimum wage pay is calculated
weekly pay = hourly rate x hours per week
annual pay = hourly rate x hours per week x weeks per year
overtime = hourly rate x 1.5 (hours over 40 in a week, FLSA)
These are gross figures before federal and South Carolina income tax, Social Security and Medicare. Your take-home pay is lower; see our South Carolina paycheck calculator for the after-tax amount.
No state law, but a real state choice
South Carolina is one of just five states with no minimum wage law of its own, so the federal Fair Labor Standards Act fills the gap and $7.25 an hour is the effective floor. That is less an oversight than a policy: the state has repeatedly declined to set a rate, and a state preemption law bars any city or county from adopting a local minimum. Columbia and Charleston cannot lift the floor the way Seattle or Denver have, which keeps a single $7.25 rate in force from the coast to the Upstate.
Because the federal rate governs, the tipped rules are federal too. An employer can pay a tipped worker as little as $2.13 in cash and claim up to a $5.12 tip credit, as long as tips carry the total to $7.25; if they fall short, the employer owes the difference. Workers moving from Georgia or North Carolina will find the same $7.25 number, so the regional job market, not the law, sets what most positions actually pay.
The practical takeaway is that $7.25 has not moved since 2009, the longest federal freeze in the wage's history, so its real value keeps eroding with inflation. Many South Carolina employers already pay above it to attract staff, which means the legal minimum and the going rate can be very different. Use the calculator with your actual offered wage rather than $7.25 to see realistic weekly and annual pay.
South Carolina minimum wage: frequently asked questions
What is the minimum wage in South Carolina in 2026?
South Carolina has no state minimum wage law, so the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour applies to most South Carolina workers. At $7.25 an hour, a full-time worker (40 hours a week) earns about $290.00 a week and $15,080.00 a year before tax. This rate took effect on July 24, 2009.
How much is full-time minimum wage in South Carolina per year?
At South Carolina's $7.25 minimum wage, 40 hours a week for 52 weeks is 2,080 hours, which comes to about $15,080.00 a year ($1,256.67 a month) in gross pay before tax and deductions. Part-time hours scale down from there; use the calculator to enter your own hours.
Is South Carolina's minimum wage going up?
South Carolina does not automatically index its minimum wage to inflation, so it changes only when the law changes. The figure here is the 2026 rate verified with the US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division.
What is the tipped minimum wage in South Carolina?
South Carolina lets employers pay tipped workers a lower cash wage of $2.13 an hour and count up to $5.12 of tips toward the minimum (a "tip credit"). If cash wage plus tips does not reach $7.25 an hour, the employer must make up the difference. See our South Carolina tipped minimum wage calculator for the full breakdown.
Is South Carolina's minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage?
No. The rate that applies in South Carolina is the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. Where a state and the federal rate differ, workers are entitled to the higher of the two.
Official sources
- South Carolina 2026 minimum wage rate: US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, as at July 11, 2026.
- Federal minimum wage ($7.25) and overtime rules: US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 11 July 2026. See our methodology. General information, not legal or financial advice. South Carolina has no state minimum wage law; the federal FLSA rate of $7.25 (tipped $2.13) applies. Local minimums: state law bars South Carolina cities and counties from setting a local minimum wage, so the federal $7.25 applies statewide.