South Carolina is one of a small number of US states with no state minimum wage law at all. That means the great majority of workers in the state depend entirely on the federal floor of $7.25 per hour — a rate set by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and unchanged since July 24, 2009. This calculator converts that hourly figure (or any wage above it) into the numbers that matter for day-to-day budgeting: weekly gross pay, monthly gross and annual gross salary, with federal overtime automatically applied the moment hours exceed 40.
How it works
Enter your hourly wage and your average hours per week. The calculator splits your time into two buckets:
- Regular time — the first 40 hours, paid at your straight-time rate.
- Overtime — any hours beyond 40, rated at 1.5 times your regular rate, as required by FLSA Section 7(a)(1).
Weekly gross = (regular hours x wage) + (overtime hours x wage x 1.5).
Monthly gross is derived as weekly x 52 / 12, capturing the exact average across all calendar months. Annual gross is weekly x 52. All arithmetic runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded or stored.
Worked example
Suppose a South Carolina worker earns the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour and works 45 hours in a single week:
| Metric | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Regular pay | 40h x $7.25 | $290.00 |
| Overtime pay | 5h x $10.88 (1.5x) | $54.38 |
| Weekly gross | $290.00 + $54.38 | $344.38 |
| Monthly gross | $344.38 x 52 / 12 | $1,492.31 |
| Annual gross | $344.38 x 52 | $17,907.76 |
At a standard 40 hours per week with no overtime, the federal minimum of $7.25/hr produces a weekly gross of $290.00, a monthly gross of $1,256.67, and an annual gross of $15,080.00 — all before federal income tax, Social Security (6.2%), Medicare (1.45%) or South Carolina state income tax withholdings.
South Carolina minimum wage in context
South Carolina has never enacted a state minimum wage statute, putting it alongside a handful of other states — including Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee — that rely entirely on the federal floor. The $7.25 federal rate has remained unchanged for more than fifteen years, meaning its real purchasing power has declined substantially with inflation since 2009. Workers in South Carolina’s retail, food service, hospitality and agricultural sectors are among those most affected by the frozen federal floor.
Tipped workers occupy a special category: federal rules permit a direct cash wage of as little as $2.13 per hour for tipped employees, on the condition that tips bring average total compensation up to at least $7.25/hr in every workweek. South Carolina imposes no higher tipped minimum. If tips fall short in any single workweek, the employer is legally obligated under FLSA Section 3(t) to make up the shortfall.
Some South Carolina workers are not covered by the FLSA at all — for example, employees of very small, purely intrastate businesses and certain agricultural workers. These workers may legally be paid below $7.25/hr, though competitive labor market pressure often pushes actual wages above the minimum floor in practice.
Use the calculator to model any scenario: compare a $10/hr offer to a $12/hr offer over a full year, see how five hours of weekly overtime changes your annual gross, or check whether a raise of fifty cents per hour is worth negotiating for. All results appear instantly as you type.