Workers in the Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $28.29 in May 2023, compared to the nationwide average of $31.48, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Victoria G. Lee noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($58.68), computer and mathematical ($49.10), and healthcare practitioners and technical ($47.18). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($14.26), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($16.92), and personal care and service ($17.24). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment in the Charleston area included office and administrative support (12.5 percent), food preparation and serving related (11.1 percent), and sales and related (9.8 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included life, physical, and social science (0.7 percent); community and social service (0.9 percent); and legal (1.0 percent). (See table A.)

One occupational group—food preparation and serving related—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Charleston had 41,780 jobs in food preparation and serving related, accounting for 11.1 percent of local area employment, compared to the 8.7-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $14.26, compared to the national wage of $16.58.

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the food preparation and serving related group included fast food and counter workers (9,670), waiters and waitresses (8,730), and restaurant cooks (6,160). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were chefs and head cooks and first-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers, with mean hourly wages of $28.12 and $21.38, respectively. At the lower end of the wage scale were waiters and waitresses ($11.34) and bartenders ($12.17). (Detailed data for the food preparation and serving related occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available, go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_16700.htm.)

Location quotients allow us to explore the occupational make-up of a metropolitan area by comparing the composition of jobs in an area relative to the national average. (See table 1.) For example, a location quotient of 2.0 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Charleston area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the food preparation and serving related group. For instance, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop hosts and hostesses were employed at 1.9 times the national rate in Charleston, and restaurant cooks at 1.8 times the U.S. average. First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers had a location quotient of 1.0 in Charleston, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce.

Technical Note

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 580 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels; and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology are available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 65.8 percent based on establishments and 64.3 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area included 2,907 establishments with a response rate of 71 percent.

Metropolitan area definitions

The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

The Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Berkeley County, Charleston County, and Dorchester County.

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.

Table 1. Employment and wage data for food preparation and serving related occupations, Charleston metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation (1)	Employment		Mean wages ($)
	Level (2)	Location quotient (3)	Hourly	Annual (4)
Food preparation and serving related occupations	41,780	1.3	14.26	29,650
Chefs and head cooks	560	1.3	28.12	58,490
First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers	2,980	1.0	21.38	44,470
Cooks, fast food	1,450	0.9	13.00	27,040
Cooks, institution and cafeteria	1,140	1.1	16.04	33,370
Cooks, restaurant	6,160	1.8	16.64	34,600
Cooks, short order	290	0.9	14.47	30,110
Food preparation workers	2,590	1.2	14.92	31,030
Bartenders	2,960	1.7	12.17	25,310
Fast food and counter workers	9,670	1.1	13.31	27,690
Waiters and waitresses	8,730	1.6	11.34	23,590
Food servers, nonrestaurant	560	0.8	15.52	32,280
Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers	1,250	1.1	12.55	26,100
Dishwashers	1,430	1.3	14.07	29,260
Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop	1,980	1.9	12.71	26,430
Footnotes: (1) For a complete listing of all detailed occupations in the Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area, see www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_16700.htm. (2) Estimates for detailed occupations may not sum to the totals due to rounding, and because the totals may include occupations that are not shown separately. Estimates do not include self-employed workers. (3) The location quotient is the ratio of the area concentration of occupational employment to the national average concentration. A location quotient greater than one indicates the occupation has a higher share of employment than average, and a location quotient less than one indicates the occupation is less prevalent in the area than average. (4) Annual wages have been calculated by multiplying the hourly mean wage by a 'year-round, full-time' hours figure of 2,080 hours; for those occupations where there is not an hourly mean wage published, the annual wage has been directly calculated from the reported survey data.