Counties with the highest unemployment in South Carolina
Counties with the highest unemployment in South Carolina
While today's unemployment rates are significantly lower than the COVID-19 pandemic peak of 14.7% experienced in April 2020, the fear of job losses remains as workers stare down an uncertain economic future.
Stacker compiled a list of counties with the highest unemployment rates in South Carolina using Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Counties are ranked by their preliminary unemployment rate in February 2024, with initial ties broken by the number of unemployed people within that county, though some ties may remain. County-level unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.
Experts are mixed in their views of a potential recession. The return of student loan payments, continually high gas prices, persistent inflation, and insurance price escalations are just a few of the factors that could limit consumer spending and potentially prompt another recession.
The last economic recession before the pandemic—the Great Recession of 2007-09—sent unemployment rates up to 10% as of October 2009, and a full recovery took years.
But as of March 2024, the national unemployment rate remains relatively low at 3.8%—down slightly from the previous month. Regional and state employment varies widely depending on local economies. Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates by state demonstrate a rather sizable spectrum, ranging from just 2% in North Dakota to 5.3% in California.
Read on to see the counties with the highest unemployment in South Carolina.
#46. Lexington County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.0%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 157,864 people (4,777 unemployed)
#45. Charleston County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.0%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 229,805 people (6,853 unemployed)
#44. Dorchester County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.2%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 84,839 people (2,696 unemployed)
#43. Berkeley County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.3%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 116,885 people (3,827 unemployed)
#42. Greenville County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.3%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 269,255 people (8,964 unemployed)
#41. Anderson County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.4%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 94,698 people (3,257 unemployed)
#40. York County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.4%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 152,473 people (5,234 unemployed)
#39. Hampton County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,274 people (289 unemployed)
#38. Saluda County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 8,961 people (312 unemployed)
#37. Jasper County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 14,010 people (495 unemployed)
#36. Oconee County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 35,842 people (1,251 unemployed)
#35. Spartanburg County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 159,970 people (5,603 unemployed)
#34. Colleton County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 16,457 people (587 unemployed)
#33. Newberry County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 19,267 people (693 unemployed)
#32. Pickens County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 60,048 people (2,140 unemployed)
#31. Florence County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 68,299 people (2,476 unemployed)
#30. Beaufort County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 80,744 people (2,936 unemployed)
#29. Richland County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 205,273 people (7,437 unemployed)
#28. Kershaw County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.7%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 30,721 people (1,129 unemployed)
#27. Edgefield County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 10,486 people (396 unemployed)
#26. Laurens County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 31,220 people (1,191 unemployed)
#25. Aiken County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.8%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 74,281 people (2,811 unemployed)
#24. Calhoun County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.9%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,730 people (265 unemployed)
#23. Chesterfield County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.9%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 21,532 people (832 unemployed)
#22. Darlington County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 3.9%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 30,836 people (1,192 unemployed)
#21. Lancaster County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.0%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: No change
- Total labor force: 44,966 people (1,801 unemployed)
#20. Union County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.8 percentage points
- Total labor force: 11,539 people (499 unemployed)
#19. Georgetown County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.3%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.4 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 26,546 people (1,129 unemployed)
#18. Sumter County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.5%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 41,519 people (1,863 unemployed)
#17. Horry County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.5%
--- 1-month change: No change
--- 1-year change: Down 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 159,097 people (7,221 unemployed)
#16. McCormick County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.7 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.6 percentage points
- Total labor force: 3,507 people (160 unemployed)
#15. Clarendon County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.6%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.4 percentage points
- Total labor force: 12,348 people (574 unemployed)
#14. Abbeville County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.7%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.8 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 9,626 people (449 unemployed)
#13. Fairfield County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.7%
--- 1-month change: No change
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 9,616 people (456 unemployed)
#12. Cherokee County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.7%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 22,763 people (1,069 unemployed)
#11. Greenwood County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.7%
--- 1-month change: Up 1.0 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 30,315 people (1,432 unemployed)
#10. Lee County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.9%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.5 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 6,617 people (323 unemployed)
#9. Dillon County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.9%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 13,180 people (641 unemployed)
#8. Chester County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.9%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.2 percentage points
- Total labor force: 13,793 people (673 unemployed)
#7. Orangeburg County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 4.9%
--- 1-month change: No change
--- 1-year change: Down 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 33,678 people (1,663 unemployed)
#6. Marion County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.2%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 0.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 12,802 people (669 unemployed)
#5. Barnwell County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.7%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.7 percentage points
- Total labor force: 7,649 people (434 unemployed)
#4. Williamsburg County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 5.7%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.1 percentage points
- Total labor force: 10,245 people (588 unemployed)
#3. Bamberg County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.3%
--- 1-month change: Up 0.2 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 4,689 people (296 unemployed)
#2. Marlboro County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.7%
--- 1-month change: Down 0.3 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Down 1.3 percentage points
- Total labor force: 7,263 people (489 unemployed)
#1. Allendale County
- February unemployment rate (preliminary): 6.8%
--- 1-month change: Down 0.1 percentage points
--- 1-year change: Up 0.5 percentage points
- Total labor force: 2,386 people (163 unemployed)
This story features data reporting by Paxtyn Merten and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 50 states.
