Employment increased in 5 of the 7 largest counties in South Carolina from September 2024 to September 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that Charleston County had the largest over-the-year increase in employment, with a gain of 1.1 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year percent change in covered employment among the largest counties in South Carolina, September 2025

County	Percent change, September 2025
Charleston	1.1
Greenville	0.9
Horry	0.9
York	0.5
Lexington	0.3
Spartanburg	0.0
Richland	-0.1

Among the seven largest counties in South Carolina, employment was highest in Greenville (300,400) in September 2025. Together, the seven largest counties accounted for 58.5 percent of total covered employment within the state. Nationwide, the 372 largest counties comprise 73.2 percent of total covered employment in the United States. (Large counties and county equivalents are those with annual average employment levels of 75,000 or more in 2024.)

All six large South Carolina counties with published data reported average weekly wage increases over the year. (See chart 2.) Charleston had the largest increase (+6.2 percent). Over-the-year wage changes for South Carolina's other five large counties with published data ranged from 4.6 percent to 3.2 percent.

  

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Chart 2. Over-the-year percent change in covered average weekly wages among the largest counties in South Carolina, third quarter 2025

County	Percent change, third quarter 2025
Charleston	6.2
Lexington	4.6
Greenville	4.5
Horry	4.5
Richland	3.5
York	3.2

Weekly wages in all large counties in South Carolina were below the national average of $1,459. Average weekly wages ranged from $1,363 in Charleston to $967 in Horry.

Employment and wage levels (but not over-the-year changes) are also available for the 39 small counties in South Carolina, defined as having employment below 75,000 in 2024. (See table 2.) Wage levels in all 39 smaller counties were below the national average. Berkeley reported the highest average weekly wage ($1,302). McCormick reported the lowest average weekly wage ($807) in the state.

Among all 46 South Carolina counties, 10 reported average weekly wages of less than $950, 13 had wages from $950 to $1,024, 10 had wages from $1,025 to $1,099, 5 had wages from $1,100 to $1,174, and 8 had average weekly wages of $1,175 or higher. (See map 1 and table 2.)

QCEW data for states have been included in this release in table 3.

Nationwide coverage of the largest counties is published in the County Employment and Wages news release. Additional information about quarterly employment and wages data is available in the news release Technical Note and from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages website.

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The County Employment and Wages release for the fourth quarter 2025 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).