Ranked 3 of 15 states · median $636/mo · CMS PY2026
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A 40-year-old carpenter in South Carolina pays a median $636/month for a Silver plan before subsidies — 3th of 15 on cost. The cheapest plan in the state is $456 from Ambetter from Absolute Total Care in Abbeville. On highest out-of-pocket maximum, South Carolina ranks 11 of 15 for this occupation.
Trade work concentrates cost into rare, expensive events rather than spreading it across the year. That inverts the usual shopping logic: a lower premium with a $9,200 ceiling is a worse deal than a higher premium with a $6,000 one, because the ceiling is what you actually hit. These rankings follow the ceiling.
Occupational context: Saw and nail-gun injuries; hearing loss; back strain from lifting.
Worth being clear about what this does and does not affect: a carrier in South Carolina cannot ask what you do for a living, cannot charge a carpenter more than a librarian of the same age in the same ZIP, and cannot exclude anything you were already treated for. Occupation only tells you which plan structure to shop for.
Premium is set by rating area, so a carpenter in one South Carolina county can pay materially more than one an hour away. Six counties from across the state, cheapest Silver plan for a 40-year-old:
| County | Cheapest Silver @40 | Issuer | Deductible | Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfield | $530 | Ambetter from Absolute Total Care | $6,000 | 5 |
| Newberry | $546 | Ambetter from Absolute Total Care | $6,000 | 4 |
| Chesterfield | $558 | InStil Health | $6,500 | 4 |
| Clarendon | $582 | Molina Healthcare | $7,000 | 4 |
| York | $613 | InStil Health | $6,500 | 4 |
| McCormick | $497 | Molina Healthcare | $7,000 | 3 |
The spread across just these six is $116/month — $1,391 a year for the same metal tier. Statewide the range runs $456 to $931. Coverage by County publishes all 46 South Carolina counties individually.
| South Carolina — worst-case exposure | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Lowest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $3,400 |
| Highest annual out-of-pocket maximum | $10,600 |
| Cheapest Gold plan @40 | $476 — Ambetter from Absolute Total Care |
| Gold deductible | $2,000 |
| Cheapest Silver @40 | $456 — Ambetter from Absolute Total Care |
| Cheapest Silver @50 | $637 |
For a carpenter, the gap between $3,400 and $10,600 in annual out-of-pocket maximum is worth more than any premium difference on this page. One serious injury reaches that ceiling regardless of which plan you picked.
Source: CMS Plan Year 2026 Qualified Health Plan Landscape file. 2,518 plan records across 46 South Carolina counties. Full-price filed rates before premium tax credits — verify at enrollment.
Cheaper for the same coverage: Indiana ($558), Ohio ($625). More expensive: Alabama ($680), Wisconsin ($687), Michigan ($708).
Side-by-side: South Carolina vs Indiana · South Carolina vs Ohio · South Carolina vs Alabama · South Carolina vs Wisconsin
A caveat on the table above: rating is by residence, not by job site. A carpenter living in South Carolina and working across a state line still buys South Carolina plans. A genuine permanent move does trigger a special enrollment period, but the plan year restarts with a fresh deductible.
Deduction categories that generally fit this trade: Tools, truck, lumber, jobsite travel, liability insurance. Note the ordering problem with health premiums: the §162(l) deduction lowers your AGI, and your AGI is what sets your premium tax credit, so the two calculate against each other. That is a CPA conversation and worth having before you enroll, not after.
If your household income is above the subsidy range, ACA is not automatically the answer. There are other categories of coverage that may fit, and they work very differently. That is a conversation, not a web page.
The cheapest Silver plan for a 40-year-old in South Carolina is $456 per month from Ambetter from Absolute Total Care, with a state median of $636. Both figures are full price before premium tax credits; most buyers pay less after subsidies.
It cannot happen on an exchange plan. Rating in South Carolina uses four inputs only: age, ZIP code, tobacco use and how many people are on the policy. Trade, injury history and pre-existing conditions are all excluded from pricing by law.
Yes. Plan types filed for 2026: EPO, HMO, POS, PPO.
South Carolina ranks 3 of 15 states covered here, at a median $636 per month. Indiana is cheapest at $558 and Nebraska is most expensive at $875.
Below the cliff. At this income a single-person household remains eligible for a premium tax credit in 2026.
This occupation sits above the cliff in 1 of the 21 states reported and below it in the other 20, so the answer changes with the state.
What this figure is. It is the median annual wage BLS reports for Carpenters (SOC 47-2031) in South Carolina. BLS surveys wage and salary workers and excludes the self-employed, so it is a benchmark for the occupation in this state — not the income of a self-employed carpenter. Premium tax credit eligibility is set by household modified adjusted gross income and household size, not by occupation, so treat this as a reference point rather than a determination of what you qualify for.
Why the cliff is back. The enhanced premium tax credits expired on 31 December 2025. For plan year 2026 the 400% FPL limit applies again, so household income above $62,600 ends premium tax credit eligibility outright.
This page compares states. For South Carolina specifically — county-by-county carriers, plan data and enrollment help — I publish that on Coverage by County, including a page written for Carpenters in South Carolina and a blog covering deductibles, subsidies and special enrollment.
Right now 6 carriers file plans across the 46 counties of South Carolina. Participation is reset annually, which is why Carpenters should check the roster in November rather than assume this year’s options carry over.
On price the only honest number today is national: the Peterson-KFF read of 2027 filings puts the median proposed rise near 15%, spanning −1% to 54%. Final South Carolina rates are not approved, so any precise 2027 figure quoted for this state is guesswork.
Enrollment opens November 1, 2026. Treat December 15 as the deadline: it guarantees January 1 cover on every marketplace, South Carolina included. Conflicting end dates get quoted because a 2025 rule shortened the window and a court vacated it in June 2026, appeal pending — enrol by the 15th and the argument is irrelevant to you.
All 46 counties in South Carolina sell a PPO, which is unusual and useful. For a carpenter covering ground, it is the plan type that travels best.
Nothing about 2027 is urgent yet, which is exactly why it is worth ten minutes now. Come November you will be choosing between South Carolina’s carriers under a deadline; today you can do it without one.
Give me a ZIP and I will tell you three things:
Most Carpenters here are buying their own coverage without an employer. One ZIP is all I need to show you what is available in your part of South Carolina.