Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC MSA — October 2026
Myrtle Beach jobs grow fastest in the state, wages stay lowest.
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach posted 3.6% year-over-year job growth, outpacing South Carolina's 2.3% statewide rate, even as Horry County's $974 average weekly wage remains the lowest among the state's major counties.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Metro employment growth: 3.6% YoY — vs 2.3% statewide, 0.1% national
- Horry County unemployment: 4.8% — vs 4.0% SC average, 4.1% national
- Horry County avg weekly wage: $974 — Lowest among SC's largest counties, Q1 2026
- SC labor force size: 2.68M — Record high, fastest-growing in U.S. in 2026
Key takeaways
Metro job growth is outrunning the state's already strong pace.
3.6% year-over-year employment growth in September roughly doubles South Carolina's 2.3% statewide rate, placing Myrtle Beach among the nation's fastest-growing smaller metros. That divergence is a quotable data point for press coverage of the regional economy's trajectory heading into 2027.
Elevated local unemployment paired with fast job growth reflects labor force expansion.
Horry County's 4.8% August unemployment rate sits well above the state's 4.0% even as payrolls expand 3.6% annually, a pattern consistent with in-migration and labor force expansion outpacing immediate absorption. Government economists tracking labor force participation should watch whether this gap narrows or persists into winter.
Wage levels remain the region's lowest among major SC counties.
Horry County's $974 average weekly wage trails every other large South Carolina county, even with 3.4% year-over-year wage growth. That cost position is a relevant input for commerce and economic development leaders framing the metro's competitiveness for business attraction.
Advertised pay is sliding in several frontline occupations even as employment expands.
Food service worker pay fell significantly and customer service and delivery driver pay softened locally this month, diverging from stable-to-rising national trends in those same roles. That pattern may suggest softening employer urgency in tourism-adjacent and service occupations even as headline job counts climb.
Median advertised pay by role — Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $23,400 | $29,120 | $31,720 | Moderate increase | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $22,880 | $26,423 | $28,600 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $29,220 | $34,320 | $37,440 | Stable | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $48,531 | $70,200 | $84,214 | Moderate increase | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $28,809 | $32,467 | $34,956 | Moderate decline | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $32,896 | $37,440 | $41,600 | Moderate decline | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $52,000 | $62,530 | $67,600 | Moderate increase | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $29,120 | $30,883 | $32,082 | Moderate increase | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $33,223 | $35,396 | $37,440 | Moderate decline | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $26,740 | $27,462 | $30,940 | Significant decline | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $31,793 | $37,033 | $38,397 | Moderate increase | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $31,200 | $37,072 | $40,000 | Stable | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $52,000 | $68,994 | $75,000 | Stable | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $76,189 | $87,104 | $95,428 | Stable | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $132,198 | $142,169 | $149,678 | Moderate increase | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer * | $99,179 | $137,912 | $155,363 | Stable | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $54,355 | $57,718 | $62,233 | Stable | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $65,442 | $73,151 | $82,500 | Moderate increase | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $49,194 | $59,084 | $60,454 | Stable | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist | $38,952 | $58,568 | $60,604 | Moderate increase | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $74,879 | $82,540 | $82,955 | Moderate increase | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $35,754 | $55,714 | $60,209 | Significant increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $57,552 | $79,819 | $88,803 | Moderate decline | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $60,072 | $78,053 | $78,053 | Moderate increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $72,756 | $89,500 | $101,690 | Stable | $98,302 |
* 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
Industry snapshot
| Sector | Median advertised pay | Pay trend | Postings trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | $60,277 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $62,497 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $34,195 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $41,809 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Information | $70,720 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $51,844 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $46,800 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $63,440 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $32,240 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $66,461 | Stable | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach posted 3.6% year-over-year employment growth in September, among the strongest showings of any metro its size nationally, even as local unemployment registered 4.4%-4.8% across available May and August readings, both above the 4.0% statewide rate. Growth continues to track the metro's tourism, healthcare, retail, and construction base, while South Carolina's labor force hit a record 2.68 million statewide, suggesting the metro is drawing workers even as local joblessness measures stay elevated relative to Charleston (3.2%) and the state average.
What it means
Rapid payroll growth alongside a higher local unemployment rate than the state as a whole is consistent with an expanding labor pool — a signal for economic development officials that worker availability may be less constrained here than headlines about a tight national labor market suggest. Commerce leaders weighing expansion or relocation decisions should treat Horry County's $974 average weekly wage, the lowest among South Carolina's major counties, alongside 4.1% national unemployment as a competitive-cost data point. Consider evaluating how the metro's wage-cost position relative to Charleston and Greenville factors into site-selection and workforce-development messaging this cycle.
Looking ahead
Early indicator: Watch whether Horry County's unemployment rate (4.8% in August) converges toward the statewide 4.0% over the next two reporting cycles, or whether the gap signals a structurally larger labor pool relative to job creation.
Worth watching: Seasonal tourism employment typically softens through the winter shoulder season; a sharper-than-usual pullback in leisure and hospitality job ads, a signal of hiring demand (one ad often covers several openings), would be a meaningful read on consumer demand heading into 2027.
Potential inflection point: National WARN filings remain elevated (3,860 notices through late October) with manufacturing and logistics prominent; any comparable filings in the Myrtle Beach-Conway corridor would be the first local test of that national trend.
Policy to monitor: Federal labor force growth continues to slow amid demographic and immigration-policy factors cited in national data; state economists should track whether South Carolina's record labor force growth (fastest in the nation in 2026) continues to offset that national headwind locally.
Sources
- Financial Channel / BLS — Myrtle Beach metro recorded 3.6% year-over-year employment growth in September 2026
- SC Department of Employment & Workforce — Horry County unemployment at 4.8% in August 2026
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, County Employment and Wages — Horry County average weekly wage of $974 in Q1 2026, lowest among major SC counties
- SC Department of Employment & Workforce — South Carolina labor force reached record 2,679,964 in September 2026
- SC Department of Employment & Workforce — South Carolina statewide employment grew 2.3% year-over-year through September
- LayoffAlert / WARN Act tracker — 3,860 WARN notices filed nationally affecting 340,316 employees through Oct. 26, 2026
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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