Labor Market Pulse · Human Resources · October 2026
Human Resources Labor Market Report: Florence, SC MSA — October 2026
Florence unemployment drops fast while HR pay races ahead of national pace.
Florence MSA unemployment fell to 4.2% in September — a six-tenths-of-a-point monthly drop — while advertised HR Business Partner pay rose to $79,476 locally, converging faster on the $83,900 national median than the broader market suggests.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Florence MSA unemployment rate: 4.2% — Down from 4.9% a year earlier; SC statewide at 4.0%
- Florence nonfarm employment: 97,100 — Up 600 jobs from August, +1.3% year-over-year
- Florence avg. weekly wage growth: +10.6% y/y — Vs. 4.0% statewide wage growth (Mar 2025-2026)
- County-level unemployment split: 4.1% / 4.5% — Florence County vs. Darlington County, Sept. 2026
Key takeaways
Florence's unemployment drop outpaces the state's gradual decline.
A six-tenths-of-a-point monthly fall to 4.2% is sharper than South Carolina's steady, multi-month glide to 4.0%, suggesting local demand is tightening the Florence candidate pool alongside statewide labor force growth. Retention plans built on statewide tightness assumptions may understate how fast local competition for talent is accelerating.
HR Business Partner pay is diverging from the national trend.
Metro median advertised pay for HR Business Partner sits at $79,476 and is rising significantly, while the national median of $83,900 is moving up only moderately. Closing proximity to the national figure faster than peer metros may reflect employers locally competing harder to retain generalist HR capacity amid thinner headcount growth.
Weekly wage growth in Florence is outrunning the state average.
Average weekly wages reached $811.86 in February, up 10.6% year-over-year, well ahead of South Carolina's 4.0% statewide wage growth over a comparable period. Compensation committees benchmarking against statewide figures risk underbudgeting merit and market adjustments for Florence-based roles.
Payroll Specialist pay gains suggest back-office roles are no longer afterthoughts.
Advertised pay for Payroll Specialist is up moderately in Florence, mirroring a national moderate increase, even as Recruiter and HR Coordinator pay sit flat locally and nationally. Compliance-adjacent back-office roles may be capturing wage pressure that front-end talent-acquisition roles currently are not.
Median advertised pay by role — Florence, SC MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compensation Analyst * | $67,168 | $101,431 | $110,390 | Significant increase | $100,798 |
| HR Business Partner | $55,000 | $79,476 | $82,285 | Significant increase | $83,900 |
| Benefits Manager * | $70,350 | $105,695 | $121,500 | Stable | $118,618 |
| HRIS Analyst * | $81,341 | $95,758 | $104,375 | Moderate increase | $95,000 |
| HR Coordinator | $41,717 | $48,341 | $57,938 | Stable | $50,460 |
| Recruiter | $39,076 | $54,756 | $68,067 | Stable | $67,234 |
| Payroll Specialist | $47,931 | $49,815 | $50,212 | Moderate increase | $61,103 |
* State-level figure shown where metro postings were too few.
WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings (reported as the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay). Download: CSV · JSON
Local market conditions
Florence MSA unemployment fell to 4.2% in September, down six-tenths of a point from August, as nonfarm employment climbed to 97,100 — a 600-job monthly gain that outpaces the metro's typical seasonal pattern. Tightening local supply is unfolding against a South Carolina backdrop of record labor force growth and a 4.0% state unemployment rate, meaning Florence employers are competing for workers in a market where the state's fastest-growing-in-the-nation labor force is being absorbed by faster-growing metros like Charleston and Greenville first.
What it means
Florence's 1.3% year-over-year job growth and sub-4.5% county unemployment rates signal a labor pool with less slack than headline state figures suggest, which should push compensation committees toward more frequent local rate reviews that look past statewide averages masking metro-level tightening. Advertised pay for HR Business Partner and Compensation Analyst roles locally is moving up significantly even as several national HR role medians stay flat, suggesting Florence employers are bidding up scarce HR talent faster than the broader market — a pattern worth testing against your own vacancy duration data. Consider reviewing whether current offer approval timelines are fast enough to compete in a metro where unemployment has dropped six-tenths of a point in a single month.
Looking ahead
Worth watching: Florence County (4.1%) and Darlington County (4.5%) are tightening at different speeds within the same MSA. Watch whether wage pressure concentrates in Florence proper, requiring sub-metro pay differentials alongside a single MSA-wide rate.
Early indicator: South Carolina's record labor force growth hasn't yet translated into Florence-specific hiring surges — nonfarm employment gains remain modest relative to Charleston and Greenville. A shift in commuting patterns or in-migration toward Florence over the next two months would signal new competition for entry-level and skilled-trade roles alike.
Potential inflection point: National information-sector job losses and mid-market hiring slowdowns haven't yet shown up as WARN activity in the Florence MSA. Monitor whether any of the state's 51 active WARN notices, concentrated in manufacturing and food/hospitality, touch Florence-area employers and release talent into the local pool.
Emerging pressure point: Compensation Analyst advertised pay in Florence ($101,431) has pulled ahead of the national median ($100,798) for the first time this cycle. If that gap holds through year-end, it may indicate Florence employers are formalizing compensation functions in response to tighter local labor supply, treating pay analysis as a dedicated local function rather than a shared regional service.
Sources
- SC Department of Employment and Workforce — Florence MSA unemployment at 4.2% in September, down from August
- SC Department of Employment and Workforce — Florence nonfarm employment reached 97,100 in September
- SC Department of Employment and Workforce — South Carolina statewide unemployment at 4.0%, seventh straight decline
- SC Department of Employment and Workforce — South Carolina average weekly wages grew 4.0% year-over-year
- SC Department of Employment and Workforce — Florence average weekly wages reached $811.86 in February, up 10.6% y/y
- SC Department of Employment and Workforce / WARN tracker — South Carolina has 51 active WARN notices affecting 7,206 employees
Methodology
Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay. WageScape observes 98% of U.S. job openings daily.
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