Marketing Specialist salary in Charleston-North Charleston, SC

Pay in Charleston-North Charleston against South Carolina and the US

The middle half of marketing specialists in Charleston-North Charleston earns $50,820–$92,890. The top tenth earns $141,600 or more, 3.9 times the bottom tenth, close to the US pattern of 3.6 times. The mean ($78,940) is 20% over the median, so a group of high earners pulls the average up; price a typical hire from the median. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is only $42,070 wide, against $48,610 across South Carolina and $49,960 nationally: employers in Charleston-North Charleston pay within a narrower band.

What to budget for a marketing specialist here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $27,240 over the median, the 25th only $14,830 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $35,148 a year in employer cost. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $78,760 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in Charleston-North Charleston, and the South Carolina statewide median of $69,440 falls there too.

What a hire really costs in Charleston-North Charleston

At the $65,650 median, a local hire costs about $84,710 a year: benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², about $19,060 here. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for marketing specialists we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in Charleston-North Charleston

Of the 17 roles we track in Charleston-North Charleston, this one ranks #5 by median pay, between office managers ($65,910) and executive assistants ($65,470). Project Coordinator is the highest at $94,730.

Measured against the US median, this job is the lowest paid of the 17 roles we track in Charleston-North Charleston (-16.6%); data entry specialists come first (+0.5%). The typical role here is at -5.2%, so, measured against the US, marketing specialists cost less in Charleston-North Charleston than the area's general pay level would suggest. Marketing specialists hold 5.0% of the jobs in these 17 roles in Charleston-North Charleston, 4.8% across South Carolina and 5.7% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

Other areas in South Carolina

Across the 11 areas of South Carolina with data for this job, the median runs from $53,460 in the Southern South Carolina nonmetro area to $74,510 in Spartanburg, a gap of $21,050 a year. The one area in South Carolina with more marketing specialists, Greenville-Anderson, SC ($71,910), also pays more.

Charleston-North Charleston against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Charleston-North Charleston is #59 of 514 US areas for this job. It is one of the larger markets for this job, with pay near the middle of the US range. Outside South Carolina, Athens-Clarke County and Helena pay just above Charleston-North Charleston and Merced and Grants Pass just below. All four are within $170 a year of the median in Charleston-North Charleston. Of the three markets with about as many marketing specialists, one pays more.

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How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.