Charleston County · South Carolina
Charleston, SC jobs and wages
Who works here, what they earn, and which industries carry the local economy — Census ACS estimates for the city itself, not the wider metro.
Quick answer
Workers in Charleston, SC earn a median of $52,100 a year, 17% above the national median of $44,587. Unemployment is 3.4% against 5.2% nationally, and education, health care & social assistance is the largest employer at 24.1% of jobs.
- Median earnings
- $52,100#12 of 94 metros
- Unemployment rate
- 3.4%US 5.2%
- Labor force participation
- 67.9%US 63.5%
- People employed
- 82,809Civilian employed, age 16+
What Charleston does for a living
Share of the civilian employed population by industry, largest first.
- Education, health care & social assistance24.1%
- Professional, scientific & management17.8%
- Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation & food12%
- Retail trade9.1%
- Finance, insurance & real estate7.8%
- Manufacturing6.4%
- Construction5.6%
- Public administration4.7%
- Other services, except public administration4.6%
- Transportation, warehousing & utilities3.6%
- Wholesale trade2.2%
- Information2%
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting & mining0.2%
Related data for Charleston
Earnings only mean something next to what things cost.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates
Tables B23025, B20002 and C24030, 2019-2023 ACS 5-year. Industry shares combine the male and female columns of C24030 and are rounded, so they may not total exactly 100%.