South Carolina's labor market: record employment along I 85.
C3 Workforce publishes labor market research for the markets our clients and candidates ask about most. Here is South Carolina, on the July 2026 data: the year's lowest jobless rate, the plants behind it, what employers pay, and the rules that make the state different.
Source: SC Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW), South Carolina's Employment Situation, July 2026, released August 21, 2026. Statewide figures seasonally adjusted; Greenville Anderson Greer metro rate not seasonally adjusted.
What is happening in South Carolina right now.
Seven things the data says, with sources. The state is growing on nearly every measure, and the exceptions are worth knowing.
South Carolina is at record employment. Unemployment fell to 4.2 percent in July 2026 from 4.4 percent a year earlier, 2,560,443 residents were employed, the most ever, and payrolls grew 32,100 (1.3 percent) to 2,414,500. Manufacturing added 2,700 jobs to reach 264,500 and construction added 5,900. Private hourly earnings averaged $33.14, up 3.7 percent. Supply is growing too: the state added 79,958 residents in the year to July 2025, the fastest rate in the nation, 66,622 of them from other states.
Sources: SC DEW, Employment Situation, July 2026; BLS series SMU45000000500000003, July 2026 preliminary; U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 estimates, January 2026.
BMW Group Plant Spartanburg in Greer is the anchor: more than 11,000 employees, about 1,500 vehicles a day, and roughly $9 billion of exports in 2025, the most of any U.S. auto plant by value. Fifteen miles away, Plant Woodruff begins series production of high voltage batteries for the electric iX5 in December 2026 with more than 300 employees and 250 robots. BMW has also piloted Figure humanoid robots on the Spartanburg floor, a signal of where production roles are heading.
Sources: BMW Group Plant Spartanburg site data; BMW Group USA, March 5, 2026; BMW Group release, July 27, 2026. Robot pilot reported by Carscoops, July 2026, and treated as context, not a statistic.
Scout Motors is building a Production Center of more than 5 million square feet in Blythewood, north of Columbia: more than $2 billion, more than 4,000 jobs planned plus about 1,000 in an on site supplier park. More than 600 South Carolinians were hired by April 2026 from 17,000 applicants, the first 100 trained at a $25 million readySC center, with 200 to 300 more hires targeted this year ahead of 2027 production. A $150 million state site preparation overrun is under Legislative Audit Council review. On the coast, Volvo Cars adds XC60 production at Ridgeville by the end of 2026.
Sources: WIS, April 20, 2026; Post and Courier, April and August 17, 2026; Volvo Cars, July 16, 2025, via SC Biz.
Boeing broke ground in November 2025 on a $1 billion, 1.2 million square foot 787 expansion in North Charleston: about 2,500 construction workers and 1,000 permanent jobs over five years on a base of more than 8,200 employees. In the Upstate, Michelin North America is headquartered in Greenville with more than 8,000 South Carolina employees across seven Upstate tire plants and a new Spartanburg County distribution center. Michelin is Greenville County's largest manufacturing employer; GE Vernova's gas turbine plant (about 2,500 South Carolina employees, 650 jobs added in a $160 million expansion announced in 2025) is second.
Sources: SC Biz, November 2025 (Boeing); SC Department of Commerce and Michelin North America; Post and Courier and SC Daily Gazette, 2025 (GE Vernova).
Freight is up. Inland Port Greer handled a record 205,523 rail moves in fiscal 2025 and a $55 million expansion doubled capacity to 300,000 lifts a year; GSP airport moved a record 64,593 tons of cargo in 2025. One caution: transportation, warehousing and utilities employment was 86,900 in July 2026, down 3.4 percent over the year, and this year's WARN list includes Saddle Creek Logistics in Duncan (130), thyssenkrupp Supply Chain Services in Greer (110) and Univar Solutions in Greer (99). Distribution is consolidating while throughput grows.
Sources: SC Ports Authority; GSP International Airport, 2025 cargo report; BLS series SMU45000004300000001, July 2026 preliminary; SC DEW WARN Report, January 1 to May 22, 2026.
The announcement board is long. Octapharma chose Rock Hill for its first U.S. manufacturing site ($1.5 billion, more than 1,500 jobs, operations in the mid 2030s). Ferrara Candy chose Orangeburg County ($675 million, 1,000 jobs, production in 2029). USA Rare Earth brings about 490 jobs to Cherokee County by 2028. Google's $3.3 billion program includes $2 billion in Dorchester County with 200 operational and about 1,200 long term construction jobs. State regulators approved Valara's nearly $3 billion Spartanburg data center on August 28, 2026, weeks after Spartanburg County adopted a one year moratorium on new ones.
Sources: SC Department of Commerce, July 29, April 22 and June 2, 2026, and September 26, 2024; WYFF, August 28, 2026; lvl30, July 23, 2026.
Not everything is growth. Electrolux filed the year's largest WARN notice: 1,139 workers at its Anderson refrigerator plant, effective July 18, 2026, while the plant converts to laundry production under an Electrolux Midea joint venture, with about 1,200 rehires expected through 2027 and 2028. Through May 22, DEW counted 23 notices and 3,324 workers. On the compliance side, 2026 unemployment tax rates for classes 2 through 19 were cut an average 34.7 percent, and every private employer must run E Verify on each new hire within three business days. Employment services, the closest public proxy for temporary help, stood at 58,100 in July 2026, up 5.4 percent over the year.
Sources: SC DEW WARN Report, May 22, 2026; Post and Courier, June 3, 2026; SC DEW, November 17, 2025; SC LLR; BLS series SMU45000006056130001, July 2026 preliminary.
The I 85 corridor.
From Anderson to Gaffney, the plants, ports and distribution centers that set the pace for Upstate hiring.
Interstate 85 runs from Anderson through Greenville, Greer, Duncan and Spartanburg to Gaffney and on to Charlotte, and the supplier base clusters within about 30 miles of the BMW plant. Greenville County has the state's largest labor force (305,098), 3.5 percent unemployment and 29,291 manufacturing jobs. Greer holds BMW, Inland Port Greer and GSP within a few miles of one another. Duncan is Tier 1 country: Draexlmaier's North American headquarters (more than 600 employees), Magna Seating (610 jobs, X5, X6 and X7 seats), Magna Mirrors and Plastic Omnium. Spartanburg County leads the state with more than 30,000 manufacturing workers; its Adidas distribution center (1,900 employees) added 300 jobs in April 2026 at $19.75 for warehouse associates and $22.00 for forklift operators.
Sources: SC DEW, July 2026 county data; SC LMI Greenville Regional Workforce Snapshot, Q4 2025; SC Department of Commerce; Greenville Business Magazine; Fox Carolina, April 1, 2026.
Down I 385, Simpsonville, Fountain Inn and Gray Court carry Autokiniton and Yanfeng (BMW metal assemblies and interiors), Caterpillar, Kyocera AVX and ZF's transmission plant, roughly 2,000 to 2,600 people with a $500 million, 400 job expansion announced in 2023. Anderson County has Bosch (more than 1,200 associates), First Quality, Arthrex and the idled Electrolux plant. Gaffney and Cherokee County have Freightliner Custom Chassis (more than 1,000), Nestle (more than 900), Dollar Tree's Cowpens distribution center (about 600) and UFP Packaging's new 136 jobs. Walmart is building a $450 million, 400 job distribution center in Lyman.
Sources: SC Department of Commerce; SC Daily Gazette; Office of the Governor of South Carolina; Fountain Inn Chamber; Dollar Tree; SC Commerce, August 13, 2026; WLTX.
| Metro area | Unemployment, July 2026 | July 2025 | Payroll jobs, July 2026 | Change over year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenville Anderson Greer | 3.7% | 4.4% | 487,500 | +9,100 |
| Spartanburg | 4.4% | 5.0% | 180,700 | +2,700 |
| Charleston North Charleston | 3.7% | 4.0% | 435,500 | +4,100 |
| Columbia | 4.0% | 4.6% | 436,400 | +1,500 |
| Myrtle Beach Conway | 4.4% | 5.2% | 159,500 | +4,500 |
| South Carolina, seasonally adjusted | 4.2% | 4.4% | 2,414,500 | +32,100 |
Sources: SC DEW, Employment Situation, July 2026 (metro payroll jobs seasonally adjusted; metro rates not seasonally adjusted); BLS Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment, July 2026, Table 1 (prior year rates). BLS named Myrtle Beach the fastest growing metro in the nation for jobs over the year.
What employers in South Carolina pay, BLS medians.
Market benchmarks, not C3 pay rates. Hourly, statewide, the nine occupations our clients hire most. South Carolina beats the national median for assemblers and CNC operators and trails it for forklift operators, laborers and electricians.
| Occupation (SOC) | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th | U.S. median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team assemblers (51 2092) | $16.22 | $18.21 | $21.88 | $27.54 | $35.71 | $21.47 |
| Laborers and material movers (53 7062) | $14.34 | $16.71 | $18.04 | $21.39 | $23.19 | $19.35 |
| Forklift operators (53 7051) | $17.20 | $18.48 | $21.00 | $22.88 | $27.40 | $22.32 |
| Inspectors and testers (51 9061) | $16.83 | $18.23 | $22.54 | $28.14 | $33.86 | $23.35 |
| CNC tool operators (51 9161) | $18.44 | $21.89 | $24.91 | $29.25 | $32.69 | $24.37 |
| Welders and cutters (51 4121) | $18.62 | $21.75 | $24.03 | $28.06 | $31.01 | $25.84 |
| Machinists (51 4041) | $18.40 | $22.58 | $27.87 | $31.39 | $36.37 | $28.24 |
| Industrial machinery mechanics (49 9041) | $21.66 | $24.50 | $29.96 | $36.63 | $39.93 | $31.02 |
| Electricians (47 2111) | $21.31 | $23.03 | $28.24 | $31.82 | $37.41 | $30.38 |
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, South Carolina statewide, via O*NET OnLine, accessed September 2026. Market benchmarks, not C3 pay rates. The Spartanburg metro assembler median is $28.51, lifted by the BMW supplier cluster.
Employer compliance in South Carolina.
Low wage floor, low unemployment tax, strict E Verify. A starting point, not legal advice.
| Item | South Carolina rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum wage | No state law. FLSA covered employers pay the federal $7.25 per hour. No increase scheduled for 2027. | U.S. DOL, July 1, 2026 |
| UI taxable wage base | $14,000 per employee in 2026. | SC DEW tax rate information |
| UI tax rates | 2026 range 0.06 percent (class 1) to 5.46 percent (class 20); classes 2 through 19 cut an average 34.7 percent from 2025; new employers 1.06 percent. Employers are ranked by benefit ratio over 12 quarters into 20 classes. | SC DEW, November 17, 2025; SC Code 41 31 50 |
| UI benefits | Maximum $350 a week, up to 20 weeks. Employers have 30 days to protest benefit charges. | SC DEW |
| E Verify | Every private employer, each new hire within three business days. First violation: one year probation with quarterly reports. Knowing violations: license suspension 10 to 30 days, then 30 to 60 days, then revocation. Random LLR audits. | SC Code 41 8 20; SC LLR |
| Workers compensation | Private market, NCCI state. Loss costs down 0.4 percent effective April 1, 2026. Act 185 of 2026 adds a medical fee schedule. Premium index $1.03 per $100 of payroll, 29th among states. | NCCI SC filing, 2025; H. 3874, May 18, 2026; Oregon DCBS, 2024 |
| Right to work | Yes, since 1954. | SC Code Title 41, Chapter 7 |
| Payment of Wages Act | Written notice of pay terms at hire and seven days written notice of changes (five or more employees). Unpaid wages carry treble damages plus attorney's fees. | SC Code Title 41, Chapter 10 |
| Paid leave and prevailing wage | No state paid leave mandate enacted in the 2026 session. No state prevailing wage law; Davis Bacon applies to federal work only. | 2026 session recap; U.S. DOL |
Compliance facts current as of September 13, 2026. Verify with the agency before relying on them for a specific decision.
South Carolina grades employers on a curve. DEW ranks every employer by benefit ratio over a 12 quarter lookback and sorts them into 20 tax classes, so one claim's charges can move your class for years. In a staffing arrangement the staffing firm is the employer of record: it hires and pays its own employees, files its own unemployment returns and carries the benefit charges on its own account. When a C3 employee's assignment ends and a claim follows, it posts to C3's account, not yours. What stays with you: OSHA treats the host employer and the staffing agency as joint employers for worker safety, and joint employer doctrines under Title VII, the ADA, the FLSA and the NLRA can still reach a client. E Verify splits the same way. C3 verifies the people it hires; you verify the people you hire directly.
Sources: SC Code 41 31 50; SC DEW employer tax rate and benefit charge guidance; American Staffing Association; OSHA Temporary Worker Initiative; SC LLR.
South Carolina headlines, summer 2026.
Eight dated items from our research feed, newest first.
State regulators approve Valara's nearly $3 billion Spartanburg data center despite a lawsuit.
One of the largest capital projects in Spartanburg County history moves ahead at the former Kohler site. WYFF.
South Carolina unemployment falls to 4.2 percent in July with a record 2,560,443 employed.
The tightest reading of 2026, with the Greenville metro at 3.7 percent. SC DEW.
Scout Motors builds toward opening as a $150 million state overrun goes under audit.
Political risk around the state's largest EV project while production hiring ramps in Blythewood. Post and Courier.
UFP Packaging opens a Cherokee County operation, 136 jobs.
Production hiring in the Gaffney and Blacksburg area. SC Department of Commerce.
Octapharma selects York County for its first U.S. manufacturing site, $1.5 billion, more than 1,500 jobs.
The largest 2026 South Carolina announcement, with a lead time to the mid 2030s. SC Department of Commerce.
BMW Group Plant Woodruff to begin high voltage battery production in December with more than 300 employees.
New battery technician roles 15 miles from Plant Spartanburg. BMW Group.
Spartanburg County passes a one year data center moratorium as SELC sues.
Pauses new data center construction pipelines in the county; the Valara project is exempt. lvl30.
Electrolux Anderson to lay off more than 1,200 as the plant converts to laundry production for 2027.
The largest Upstate layoff of 2026, followed by a rehiring wave of similar size in 2027 and 2028. Post and Courier.
Questions we get about South Carolina.
What is South Carolina's unemployment rate right now?
4.2 percent in July 2026, seasonally adjusted, down from 4.4 percent in June and from 4.4 percent in July 2025 (SC Department of Employment and Workforce, August 21, 2026). A record 2,560,443 residents were employed. August data arrive September 18, 2026.
How tight is the Upstate labor market?
Tight. The Greenville Anderson Greer metro ran 3.7 percent unemployment in July 2026 with payroll jobs up 9,100 (1.9 percent) over the year, the largest gain of any South Carolina metro. Greenville County was 3.5 percent with the state's largest labor force (305,098); Spartanburg County 4.3 percent, Anderson County 3.8 percent, Cherokee County 5.5 percent.
Does South Carolina require E Verify?
Yes, for every private employer. Each new hire must be verified through E Verify within three business days. A first violation brings one year of probation with quarterly reports; knowingly employing an unauthorized worker brings license suspension of 10 to 30 days, then 30 to 60 days, then revocation. In a staffing arrangement the staffing firm verifies the employees it hires; the client verifies its own direct hires.
What is the minimum wage in South Carolina?
South Carolina has no state minimum wage law, so FLSA covered employers pay the federal $7.25 per hour, with no increase scheduled for 2027. Market rates run far above that: the BLS median for laborers and material movers in South Carolina was $18.04 per hour in May 2025 and for team assemblers $21.88.
Who carries the unemployment claim when a temporary assignment ends in South Carolina?
The staffing firm, as employer of record. It hires and pays its own employees, files its own unemployment returns with SC DEW and carries the benefit charges on its own account and tax class. Safety obligations under the OSH Act remain joint between the host employer and the staffing agency.
Where does C3 Workforce work in South Carolina?
Our South Carolina team works the Upstate market from Greenville to Spartanburg, including Greer, Duncan, Simpsonville, Fountain Inn, Anderson, Gaffney and Laurens, and takes orders anywhere in the state. C3 Workforce is headquartered in Livonia, Michigan, is active in multiple markets across the country and does business in all 50 states. The South Carolina line is (864) 875-2009.
Greenville to Spartanburg, and every exit in between.
Our South Carolina team works the Upstate market from Greenville to Spartanburg, with on site visits to plants and distribution centers along I 85 and I 385. Tell us the role, the shift and the zip code; quotes go out within 24 hours.
(864) 875-2009
info@c3workforce.com
Automotive Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers, tire and rubber, power generation, distribution centers, food and consumer goods packaging. The same screening and accountability as every other C3 market, backed by the Livonia headquarters and a national team.
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Most quotes go out within one business day. No pitch, no pressure. Just a number and a start date.