How much do telecom line installers make in South Carolina in 2026?

The median telecom line installer in South Carolina earns $59,790 a year, or about $28.75 an hour based on a 2,080-hour work year. That figure sits at the midpoint of the trade — half of installers in the state earn more, half earn less. The data comes from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025.

The spread across the pay range is significant. Workers at the 25th percentile — think someone a year or two into the trade, or working a lower-demand territory — bring in $48,380 annually, which works out to roughly $23.26 an hour. Get to the 75th percentile, and pay jumps to $74,920 a year, or about $36.02 an hour. That $26,540 gap between the bottom quarter and the top quarter tells you there's real money to be gained by accumulating experience, taking on fiber optic and broadband work, and positioning yourself with contractors or carriers that handle higher-complexity installs.

Entry-level installers in South Carolina typically start below the 25th percentile while they're learning pole climbing, aerial splicing, underground conduit work, and the safety protocols that come with live cable infrastructure. Most employers in this state don't require a formal apprenticeship program to get started, but the workers who advance fastest are the ones who pursue manufacturer certifications in fiber termination and testing, and who build familiarity with OTDR equipment and industry splice standards.

Geography inside South Carolina matters. The Charleston metro and the broader Lowcountry corridor have seen sustained investment in fiber-to-the-home buildouts and coastal broadband expansion, which pushes demand — and pay — higher for experienced crews. Columbia, as the state capital, also generates consistent commercial and government telecom work. Rural counties in the Pee Dee region and Upstate may offer lower base pay but often come with per diem allowances when workers travel to job sites, which can add meaningfully to take-home.

Overtime is a real factor in this trade. Telecom line installers regularly work more than 40 hours during network rollouts, storm restoration, and major commercial cutover projects. At the median hourly rate of $28.75, a 10-hour overtime week adds roughly $431 in gross pay at time-and-a-half. Workers on active deployment projects — particularly those expanding rural broadband under federally funded programs — can run 50- to 60-hour weeks for extended stretches, which materially lifts annual earnings above what the BLS base figures show.

No union scale data is available for this specific trade in South Carolina. The state has limited union density in the telecom construction sector compared to states like New York or Illinois, so most pay is negotiated between individual workers and their employer or set by company pay bands. That makes your personal certifications, demonstrated productivity, and willingness to work demanding schedules the primary levers for moving your rate upward.

To push toward and beyond the 75th percentile threshold of $36.02 an hour, the clearest paths are: earning fiber optic certifications (FOA CFOT is widely recognized), cross-training on coax and wireless infrastructure, taking on crew lead or foreman responsibilities, and targeting contractors with master service agreements for the major carriers operating in South Carolina. Workers who can troubleshoot and splice fiber independently — rather than just pull and terminate — are consistently at the higher end of the pay scale.