Metro Area Employment Rises Across South Carolina 

By Lainey Stalnaker, Data Analytics Writer 

Employment has surged across South Carolina over the past year. This fact is highlighted most clearly by six of South Carolina’s metropolitan areas ranking in the top 20 in the nation for growth rate [1]. 

Employment in the Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach metro area increased 5.2 percent from June 2024 to June 2025, an addition of 8,200 workers. This was the second fastest growth rate of all 387 metro areas in the country. Tied for sixth place nationwide were the Charleston-North Charleston and Florence metro areas at 4.1 percent growth. Charleston added 17,600 workers and Florence added 3,900.  

Employment in both the Columbia and Spartanburg metro areas grew at 3.0 percent (tied for the 17th best rate nationally), and in Sumter, employment levels increased 2.9 percent (tied for the 19th best rate). Employment growth rates for all metro areas in the state, as well as the state’s overall rate, are shown in the figure below. 

1 https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/metro.pdf