What are the top 10 most common occupations in SC — and what do they pay?
As South Carolina’s population continues to rapidly grow, the state’s workforce has risen accordingly.
According to the latest May 2025 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 2,305,080 jobs in the Palmetto State, up 33,310 jobs from the same time in 2024.
South Carolina’s top five metropolitan areas included, from smallest to largest, Augusta-Richmond County, Columbia, Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, Greenville-Mauldin-Easley and Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill.
Bryan Grady, who serves as the assistant executive director for labor market information at the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, said that while the department tries to avoid broad judgments on the local economy, there have been positive trends.
“We’ve generally seen average to above average payroll growth on a month-by-month basis and we’ve also seen our labor force [participation] increase to 59%, which indicates people who were not previously looking for work have decided to get out there,” Grady said. “I think that’s something that’s indicative of a healthy labor market.”
The unemployment rate sat at 4.8%, higher than the national average of 4.3% and up from the 2023 and 2024 rates of 3% and 4.1%.
South Carolina’ s most common fields were similar to the national data, with production job ranking four spots higher than the national average and management positions three spots lower. Installation, maintenance and repair rounded out South Carolina’s list at No. 10 despite ranking 18th in the United States. The 10th-ranked position nationwide, healthcare support, was absent from the Palmetto State’s top 10.
Healthcare was one of the fields where the department expected to see the most growth by 2034, Grady said, through jobs such as nurse practitioners, psychiatric technicians and hearing aid specialists. Grady said “high-tech” positions such as data scientists and information security analysts are also expected to increase, but jobs in the field have become much harder to project with the rise of artificial intelligence.
“It’s very hard to model a thing that hasn’t happened before,” Grady said. “There’s certainly a possibility that occupational growth might be mitigated by artificial intelligence agents taking on some of that workload, but I don’t think it’s going to go away. And I think definitely on the healthcare side, assuming nobody builds a robot nurse anytime soon, I think it’s going to be pretty essential.”
With the exception of production, where South Carolina’s average salary narrowly exceeded the national average by $1,060, the state’s pay was below average. Grady argued South Carolina’s lower than average cost of living made up for the discrepancy.
“We have far more affordable essentials than many parts of the country,” Grady said.
You can take a look at the BLS full South Carolina data here. Here are the top ten most common occupations in South Carolina as determined by federal statisticians.
No. 1: Office and Administrative Support
- Where this occupation ranked nationally: One
- How many employees in South Carolina: 285,690
- Average yearly salary nationally: $51,560
- Average yearly salary In South Carolina: $46,480
No. 2: Sales
- Where this occupation ranked nationally: Four
- How many employees in South Carolina: 230,320
- Average yearly salary nationally: $54,960
- Average yearly salary In South Carolina: $49,140
No. 3: Food Preparation and Serving
- Where this occupation ranked nationally: Two
- How many employees in South Carolina: 229,540
- Average yearly salary nationally: $37,150
- Average yearly salary In South Carolina: $30,700
No. 4: Transportation and Material Moving
- Where this occupation ranked nationally: Three
- How many employees in South Carolina: 206,200
- Average yearly salary nationally: $49,850
- Average yearly salary In South Carolina: $42,940
No. 5: Production
- Where this occupation ranked nationally: Nine
- How many employees in South Carolina: 179,000
- Average yearly salary nationally: $51,600
- Average yearly salary In South Carolina: $50,540
No. 6: Healthcare Practitioners and Technicians
- Where this occupation ranked nationally: Seven
- How many employees in South Carolina: 146,120
- Average yearly salary nationally: $108,700
- Average yearly salary In South Carolina: $97,990
No. 7: Business and Financial Operations
- Where this occupation ranked nationally: Six
- How many employees in South Carolina: 130,680
- Average yearly salary nationally: $95,230
- Average yearly salary In South Carolina: $87,620
No. 8: Management
- Where this occupation ranked nationally: Five
- How many employees in South Carolina: 126,870
- Average yearly salary nationally: $145,260
- Average yearly salary In South Carolina: $129,000
No. 9: Educational Instruction and Libraries
- Where this occupation ranked nationally: Eight
- How many employees in South Carolina: 121,120
- Average yearly salary nationally: $67,540
- Average yearly salary In South Carolina: $58,770
No. 10: Installation, Maintenance and Repair
- Where this occupation ranked nationally: 18
- How many employees in South Carolina: 102,520
- Average yearly salary nationally: $63,320
- Average yearly salary In South Carolina: $57,610