Updated
Updated · dew.sc.gov · Jun 5
BLS Releases 2025 South Carolina Job Data With 2.31 Million Jobs and $28.50 Average Hourly Wage
Updated
Updated · dew.sc.gov · Jun 5

BLS Releases 2025 South Carolina Job Data With 2.31 Million Jobs and $28.50 Average Hourly Wage

3 articles · Updated · dew.sc.gov · Jun 5

Summary

  • 2,305,080 jobs were counted in South Carolina in the 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, with average pay at $28.50 an hour, or about $59,280 annually.
  • Management posted the highest broad-category wage at $62.02 an hour, while food preparation and serving jobs were lowest at $14.76; office support was the largest major group with 285,690 jobs.
  • Healthcare practitioners dominated the state's top pay rankings, filling all 20 highest-paid occupations; neurologists led at $170.31 an hour, and nurse anesthetists were the only top-20 role not typically requiring doctoral training plus residency.
  • Production showed the highest major-group concentration with a 1.41 location quotient, while the most specialized individual jobs were led by textile bleaching and dyeing machine operators at 9.80 and nuclear technicians at 7.79.
  • Those concentration patterns reflect South Carolina's remaining textile base and sizable nuclear sector, supported by the nation's third-highest atomic energy output and the Savannah River Site.

Insights

Why is unemployment rising in America's fastest-growing state economy?
Will billion-dollar investments fix South Carolina’s surprising rise in unemployment?