Start with the answer
Food Scientists and Technologists pay in South Carolina and Tennessee
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Food Scientists and Technologists is $108,660 per year in South Carolina. It is $81,760 per year in Tennessee. South Carolina is 32.9% above Tennessee on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 19-1012 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 90 wage and salary jobs in South Carolina and 70 in Tennessee. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings
