Charleston-North Charleston, SC

Across all occupations in the Charleston-North Charleston, SC metropolitan area, the median wage is $49,150 a year ($23.63 an hour) and the mean $64,260, May 2025. That median is −4% against the US median of $50,980 and +6% against South Carolina's $46,490. BLS counts 394,170 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is anesthesiologists; the largest is retail salespersons.

All occupations: Charleston-North Charleston, SC vs South Carolina and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Charleston-North Charleston, SC area, South Carolina and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Charleston-North Charleston, SC	Hourly	$13.63	$17.55	$23.63	$37.24	$55.67	$30.89	394,170
Charleston-North Charleston, SC	Annual	$28,350	$36,510	$49,150	$77,460	$115,790	$64,260	394,170
South Carolina	Hourly	$13.01	$16.65	$22.35	$33.82	$49.52	$28.50	2,305,080
South Carolina	Annual	$27,070	$34,630	$46,490	$70,340	$103,010	$59,280	2,305,080
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

515 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: South Carolina. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Charleston-North Charleston, SC

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Anesthesiologists	$308,880	$148.50	**
2	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$303,680	$146.00	80
3	Family Medicine Physicians	$255,650	$122.91	230
4	Nurse Anesthetists	$228,740	$109.97	**
5	Dermatologists	$207,000	$99.52	**
6	Chief Executives	$197,220	$94.82	290
7	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$174,040	$83.67	730
8	Advertising and Promotions Managers	$170,000	$81.73	40
9	Computer and Information Systems Managers in South Carolina	$167,000	$80.29	940
10	Physicians, All Other	$163,900	$78.80	1,370
11	Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists	$162,230	$78.00	200
12	Financial Examiners	$158,960	$76.43	80
13	Optometrists	$154,660	$74.36	70
14	Compensation and Benefits Managers	$150,810	$72.51	50
15	Financial Managers in South Carolina	$147,170	$70.76	1,420
16	Pharmacists	$145,950	$70.17	920
17	Sales Managers in South Carolina	$139,830	$67.23	1,660
18	Marketing Managers	$138,790	$66.73	800
19	Purchasing Managers	$138,340	$66.51	220
20	Computer Network Architects	$137,930	$66.31	480

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Charleston-North Charleston, SC

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Retail Salespersons in South Carolina	11,930	30.27	1.21	$34,090
2	Fast Food and Counter Workers in South Carolina	10,850	27.53	1.11	$28,500
3	Registered Nurses in South Carolina	9,760	24.77	1.14	$92,800
4	Waiters and Waitresses in South Carolina	9,580	24.31	1.66	$19,340
5	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in South Carolina	8,100	20.56	1.08	$38,090
6	Cashiers in South Carolina	7,960	20.19	1.02	$30,130
7	Customer Service Representatives in South Carolina	7,940	20.13	1.21	$44,000
8	Office Clerks, General in South Carolina	6,890	17.48	1.10	$39,250
9	Cooks, Restaurant in South Carolina	6,040	15.33	1.69	$36,710
10	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in South Carolina	6,020	15.28	1.15	$55,150
11	General and Operations Managers in South Carolina	6,000	15.22	0.68	$109,260
12	Stockers and Order Fillers in South Carolina	5,540	14.05	0.77	$36,620
13	Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in South Carolina	5,370	13.62	1.51	$48,180
14	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in South Carolina	5,210	13.22	0.93	$35,240
15	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in South Carolina	4,670	11.84	1.33	$61,020
16	First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers in South Carolina	4,650	11.80	1.28	$65,910
17	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in South Carolina	4,460	11.32	1.15	$48,540
18	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in South Carolina	4,420	11.21	1.02	$47,750
19	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in South Carolina	4,340	11.00	0.40	$34,100
20	Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel in South Carolina	4,290	10.89	1.35	$62,600

Most concentrated occupations in Charleston-North Charleston, SC

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Textile, Apparel, and Furnishings Workers, All Other	4.93	170	0.43	$47,720
2	Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators	4.43	180	0.46	$49,270
3	Rolling Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	4.34	280	0.71	$38,840
4	Computer and Information Research Scientists	4.22	400	1.01	$126,860
5	Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians	4.12	240	0.62	$49,620
6	Riggers	3.73	210	0.54	$51,020
7	Metal-Refining Furnace Operators and Tenders	3.57	150	0.39	$39,180
8	Materials Engineers	3.49	200	0.51	$131,080
9	Landscape Architects	3.39	170	0.43	$99,330
10	Recreation and Fitness Studies Teachers, Postsecondary	3.08	100	0.25	$78,240

Occupation groups in Charleston-North Charleston, SC

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$119,650	$134,650	23,610	59.91	0.84
Computer and Mathematical	$104,460	$111,520	11,760	29.83	0.88
Architecture and Engineering	$100,780	$104,970	9,190	23.31	1.38
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$82,640	$100,500	27,910	70.80	1.12
Business and Financial Operations	$80,580	$91,910	26,480	67.17	0.99
Legal	$76,420	$102,200	3,430	8.70	1.04
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$73,630	$86,370	2,880	7.30	0.77
Educational Instruction and Library	$60,800	$63,220	20,600	52.26	0.89
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$57,820	$59,420	17,220	43.68	1.12
Community and Social Service	$54,800	$59,740	4,510	11.45	0.67
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$53,800	$67,370	4,040	10.25	0.78
Construction and Extraction	$51,290	$57,000	15,430	39.14	0.95
Protective Service	$49,940	$53,730	8,580	21.78	0.90
Production	$49,240	$53,310	21,140	53.64	0.97
Office and Administrative Support	$46,020	$49,380	46,270	117.38	1.03
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$43,960	$48,050	190	0.47	0.17
Transportation and Material Moving	$42,360	$46,740	31,850	80.79	0.92
Healthcare Support	$38,640	$41,220	12,990	32.97	0.65
Sales and Related	$37,430	$52,900	38,620	97.98	1.13
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$36,250	$37,590	12,560	31.86	1.09
Personal Care and Service	$34,440	$38,870	9,800	24.86	1.19
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$29,870	$32,970	45,140	114.51	1.30

Every occupation in South Carolina, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 515 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Charleston-North Charleston, SC estimates (area 16700).

*: Wage estimate not available.
**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Charleston-North Charleston, SC area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.