Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages: Second Quarter, 2025
By Lainey Stalnaker, Data Analytics Writer
The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) measures changes in employment, establishments, total wages, and average weekly wages at the national, state, and county levels.[1] Data are categorized by sector according to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). These data include the monthly employment and quarterly wages for workers covered by state Unemployment Insurance (UI) laws and federal workers covered by the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program, absent certain excluded groups.
Between the second quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2025, South Carolina experienced strong wage growth. Average weekly wages increased in 44 of the state's 46 counties, and overall employment rose over the 12-month period.
Wages by County
During the second quarter of 2025, average weekly wages in South Carolina were $1,186, up 4.7 percent, or $53, from the same quarter a year earlier. Wage growth was fastest in Clarendon County, increasing 11.7 percent from $787 to $879. Abbeville, Barnwell, Charleston, Cherokee, Dillon, and Laurens Counties all recorded wage increases of at least 6.8 percent, which was more than double the U.S. rate. A total of 30 counties in the state outpaced the national wage growth of 3.4 percent.
Wages were highest in Charleston County at $1,331, followed by Berkeley County at $1,298, and Lancaster County at $1,280. Aiken and Greenville Counties rounded out the top five with average wages of $1,267 and $1,231, respectively. Average weekly wages in South Carolina’s ten most populous counties are shown in Figure 1, below.
Employment by County
In June 2025, employment was highest in Greenville County, with over 300,000 workers. Charleston County came second at 285,553, followed by Richland County at 227,440. Annual changes in employment were mixed across the state. 21 counties reported a decline in employment from June 2024 to June 2025, though the change for five of these counties was less than 0.5 percent. The decline was steepest in Clarendon County, where employment fell 11.2 percent from 6,733 to 6,015. The majority of counties, however, recorded employment growth over the year. At the top of the list was Fairfield County, which increased employment by 7.0 percent, adding 424 workers, primarily in the educational services sector.
Wages by Sector
Wages were highest in the utilities sector, averaging $2,087 per week during the second quarter of 2025. This was an increase of $62 over the year. Management of companies and enterprises had the second-highest average weekly wages at $2,076. In third place was the professional, scientific, and technical services sector, which recorded average weekly wages of $1,881. This sector recorded a 5.7 percent increase in wages, the fastest of any in the state, which accounted for an additional $102 per week. Wages increased in all but one sector, educational services, which recorded a 1.5 percent drop from $913 to $899. Please note that wage and employment data for certain sectors are not available for Quarter 2. Average weekly wages in selected sectors in South Carolina are shown in Figure 3.
Employment by Sector
In June of 2025, employment was highest in the retail trade sector with 269,258 workers, followed by the manufacturing sector, which employed 263,041 people, and accommodations and food services sector, which recorded employment of 253,063 workers.
From June 2024 to June 2025, employment increased the most in the health care and social assistance sector, which added 8,794 workers at a rate of 3.6 percent. Employment grew fastest, however, in the management of companies and enterprises sector, increasing 6.4 percent from 23,385 to 24,882, an addition of 1,497 workers. Three sectors recorded declines in employment of at least 1.0 percent over the year: educational services (-5.3%), transportation and warehousing (-2.7%), and manufacturing (-1.2%). Figure 4 shows June 2025 employment in all sectors for which data is available.
