South Carolina minimum wage in 2026 (and 2027)

What "no state minimum wage" means for you

Washington, not Columbia, writes the wage rules here. The Department of Labor lists South Carolina as a state with no minimum wage law, so FLSA-covered employers pay $7.25. Everything else follows from federal law as well:

• Tipped employees: pay $2.13 in cash and count up to $5.12 of tips toward the rest. A slow week where tips fall short means you top up the check.
• Overtime: time and a half past 40 hours in a workweek, or $10.875 at the minimum.
• Teen and young hires: anyone under 20 may start at $4.25 for 90 days.

One odd result: a job that falls outside FLSA coverage has no minimum at all under South Carolina law. Few jobs qualify. Federal coverage attaches to most businesses and to many single workers whose duties touch interstate commerce, so do not plan payroll around the exception.

The federal rate turned into a paycheck

The math is the federal math. Forty hours at $7.25 is $290.00. Multiply by 52 weeks (2,080 hours) and the year comes to $15,080.00. Spread over twelve months, that is $1,256.67.

South Carolina sets no minimum pay frequency. You pay on the schedule you establish, and employers with 5 or more employees must give new hires written notice of their pay terms.

Taxes and insurance you add to $15,080

The 1.06% is rate class 30 for new employers: a 1.000% base rate plus the 0.060% DACA administrative assessment, with no solvency surcharge in 2026. Workers' compensation insurance is required once you regularly employ 4 or more people in the state, counting part-time staff and family members. Check other wages in the payroll cost calculator.

Where South Carolina sits in the Southeast

North Carolina pays $7.25 under its own state law. Georgia's statute says $5.15 for employers of 6 or more, but FLSA-covered employers there pay $7.25 too. A handful of Southern states, among them South Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama, have no minimum wage statute at all. Every state's figure is in the 2026 state minimum wage list.

Getting payroll right in South Carolina

When you separate an employee for any reason, final wages are due within 48 hours or by the next regular payday, and never more than 30 days later. Agency registration and the state income tax withholding rules are on the South Carolina payroll tax page.

Gusto's entry plan, Simple, lists $49 a month and $6 for each person paid (pricing page checked October 16, 2026), and it does the tip credit and overtime math for you. Weigh it against others in the payroll software comparison.