Nurse practitioner salary in South Carolina

Before you say yes in South Carolina

South Carolina's APRN page requires graduate transcripts directly from the nursing program and current specialty certification from an approved organization. It treats prescriptive authority as a separate application from the online APRN application. For an NP offer, compare the patient population with your specialty, verify the APRN credential and check whether medication duties require that additional authority. A completed general nursing application does not establish prescribing readiness.

South Carolina official NP practice or licensing resource

• Use the cited state resource to check your own record, not just the employer’s description of the role.
• Put the proposed scope and practice setting beside the board requirement; have the hiring team resolve any mismatch.
• Get a named owner for unfinished credentialing and orientation steps, and compare the paid schedule with what you would actually cover.

This note retains the state-specific information already cited on this NP page. It does not infer additional practice authority, compact eligibility, approvals or a completion date. The wage comparison and the board process answer different questions.

Where the South Carolina midpoint sits

Using the published NP annual medians, South Carolina takes 48th place among 51 jurisdictions (50 states and DC).

Rank is one plus the number of published state medians higher than this median; tied values share a rank. Missing state estimates are excluded. This orders employee-wage midpoints, not job quality, purchasing power or the pay offered to a particular clinician.

Against the national BLS OEWS May 2025 NP median at $132,300, the South Carolina midpoint is $9,010 below, a 6.81% difference.

Calculation: $123,290 minus $132,300 = -$9,010; divide the absolute dollar difference by $132,300 and multiply by 100 for 6.81%.

The closest positions in the descending state list are shown below; at either end, both comparators are on the same side. These are rank neighbors, not necessarily geographic neighbors.

Against Mississippi (rank 47) at $124,730, the South Carolina midpoint is $1,440 below, a 1.15% difference.

Calculation: $123,290 minus $124,730 = -$1,440; divide the absolute dollar difference by $124,730 and multiply by 100 for 1.15%.

Against Kentucky (rank 49) at $122,870, the South Carolina midpoint is $420 above, a 0.34% difference.

Calculation: $123,290 minus $122,870 = $420; divide the absolute dollar difference by $122,870 and multiply by 100 for 0.34%.

Source: the existing national NP guide and the linked state tables reproduce BLS OEWS May 2025 employee-wage estimates. Compare median with median; the national mean already discussed on this page remains a different statistic.

The same state, different clinical roles

South Carolina: physicians, all other — broad BLS category · South Carolina: nurse practitioner pay — median $123,290 · South Carolina: physician assistant pay — median $122,490 · South Carolina: nurse anesthetist pay — median $265,480

These links hold geography constant while changing the occupation. The NP estimate on this page is not an interchangeable benchmark for another role. The physician link uses “physicians, all other,” a broad BLS category rather than a particular specialty average. Compare each published measure on its own terms; a difference between roles does not explain why employers pay differently.

Across the borders of South Carolina

For work near a South Carolina border, these same-occupation state midpoints provide a second frame of reference.

Among the displayed bordering jurisdictions, Georgia has the highest listed median, $129,430; North Carolina has the lowest, $128,990. South Carolina itself records $123,290.

Only bordering jurisdictions with an existing page and a usable median are displayed. Land and river borders count; open-water-only borders and corner-only contacts do not. These statewide estimates do not isolate a border town, commuting distance, local employer or specialty. Follow each state link for the original wage snapshot and its precision measures.

The published wage benchmark

BLS reports an annual mean wage of $124,170 and annual median wage of $123,290 for nurse practitioners in South Carolina. The hourly mean is $59.70; the hourly median is $59.28. These are employee wage estimates, not quoted contract rates. Employment estimate: 5,670. That is an estimated job count, not open jobs or a count of available clinicians.

Sources: BLS May 2025 OEWS area data

National comparison

The national mean for this occupation is $137,300. Compare it as a separate national benchmark, not a prediction of your offer.

What the South Carolina numbers mean for a NP offer

The employment estimate is 5,670 employee jobs, not current vacancies. For nurse practitioners, the South Carolina annual mean is $124,170; the annual median is $123,290. Mean and median are different measures, not the ends of a salary range. These are employee wage estimates, not offers or total compensation. The wage relative standard error is 1.9%. RSE describes estimate precision, not the spread between individual offers. South Carolina's NP annual mean is $13,130 below the published national NP mean of $137,300, a 9.6% difference between employee-wage estimates. Its mean is $880 above its median.

NP practice and first-shift checks in South Carolina

South Carolina's APRN page requires graduate transcripts directly from the nursing program and current specialty certification from an approved organization. It treats prescriptive authority as a separate application from the online APRN application. For an NP offer, compare the patient population with your specialty, verify the APRN credential and check whether medication duties require that additional authority. A completed general nursing application does not establish prescribing readiness.

• Confirm that the written duties fit your experience, practice arrangement and facility privileges.
• Identify the owner of each remaining board, credentialing and orientation step.
• Compare the actual paid schedule, expenses and coverage, not an assumed local market range.

South Carolina official NP practice or licensing resource

What this data does and does not measure

OEWS includes full-time and part-time employees and does not include self-employed workers. Annual wage estimates generally use a 2,080-hour year; do not treat them as a part-time worker's actual yearly earnings. The mean is the average; the median is the midpoint. BLS publishes each rounded estimate separately, so use the published values rather than multiplying a rounded hourly wage. The occupation-level table does not provide a pay split for telemedicine, locum tenens, per diem or consulting. BLS uses the occupation name "Nurse Practitioners" (SOC 29-1171). It does not separate this row by population certification or NP specialty.

Sources: BLS OEWS frequently asked questions

How precise is the estimate?

Employment relative standard error: 5.1%. Wage relative standard error: 1.9%. RSE measures estimate precision; a smaller RSE means a more precise survey estimate.

Pay is one part of the job

Ask what work is included, who owns onboarding and what has to clear before the first shift. Keep your licenses and credentials current in one Saile profile, then check the app for relevant work.

Turn a salary benchmark into a useful offer comparison

Start with the published mean and median above, then compare the actual work rather than treating a wage estimate as a guaranteed offer. For NP work, ask about population focus, patient acuity, visit volume, prescribing duties, clinical backup and the practice settings covered. A wage category does not determine your scope or readiness.

• Write down the patient scope, paid schedule, nights and call you are agreeing to cover.
• Ask which orientation, charting, messages, travel and administrative tasks are paid.
• Compare benefits, expenses, malpractice coverage, cancellation and exit terms beside the pay unit.
• Get the remaining licensing, privileges, orientation and system-access steps and their owners before committing a first shift.

Where to look and what to ask next

Check direct facility career pages and the Saile app for current opportunities. Search your role with the setting and schedule you want, such as temporary coverage, per diem or part-time. A published salary estimate is not evidence of a live vacancy. Ask the hiring team for the actual scope, dates and written terms before reserving your time.

Employee wages are not contractor take-home pay

The BLS figure excludes self-employed workers. For federal employment taxes, the IRS considers control and the relationship, not only the contract label. Self-employed individuals generally pay income and self-employment tax and may need estimated payments. Keep payment and expense records and take your actual arrangement to a tax professional; do not subtract a generic percentage and call it take-home pay.

Sources: IRS: Independent contractor or employee · IRS: Self-employed individuals tax center

Compare the work, not just the benchmark

Sources

• BLS May 2025 OEWS area data
• BLS OEWS frequently asked questions
• IRS: Independent contractor or employee
• IRS: Self-employed individuals tax center
• South Carolina official NP practice or licensing resource

Data period: May 2025. Published May 15, 2026.

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