Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · October 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Spartanburg, SC MSA — October 2026
Spartanburg's tight labor market meets a $3 billion capital bet.
Spartanburg unemployment fell to 3.8% — below the state's 4.1% and the national 4.2% — just as regulators approved Valara's nearly $3 billion data center in a county that recently adopted a data-center moratorium.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of October 2026.
Key indicators
- Spartanburg unemployment rate: 3.8% — vs 4.1% SC, 4.2% national (Sept. 2026)
- Valara data center investment: ~$3B — Approved Aug. 28, weeks after county moratorium
- Spartanburg payroll growth: +3,500 jobs YoY — 181,200 total, +300 month-over-month
- SC labor force size: 2,679,964 — Record high, fastest-growing in U.S. (Sept. 2026)
Key takeaways
Spartanburg's labor market is tighter than the state average.
3.8% unemployment sits below South Carolina's 4.1% and the national 4.2%, with payrolls up 3,500 year-over-year. A metro this close to full employment has less room to absorb a major new capital project without competing pressure on local wages and available labor.
Valara's data center approval lands in a moratorium-adjacent county.
State regulators approved the nearly $3 billion project in late August, weeks after Spartanburg County adopted a data-center moratorium — a signal of friction between local land-use policy and state-level investment approval that commerce leaders should track as construction timelines firm up.
Healthcare wage gains outpace the metro's flatter white-collar picture.
Registered nurse pay is up moderately and CNA/home health aide pay up moderately locally, consistent with statewide education-and-health-services job growth of 7,900 positions over the year. Software engineer and financial analyst advertised pay, by contrast, fell significantly in Spartanburg even as national figures held stable — a divergence worth watching for what it signals about local professional-services demand.
Manufacturing holds steady as the metro's structural anchor.
Manufacturing production worker pay is flat locally, mirroring a state where durable-goods manufacturing now makes up 63% of industry employment, up from 36% in 1990. Stability here, against softer professional-services numbers, suggests the metro's economic base remains manufacturing-led even as new capital inflows diversify the mix.
Median advertised pay by role — Spartanburg, SC MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $22,500 | $27,040 | $30,069 | Stable | $33,340 |
| Retail Cashier | $22,880 | $26,000 | $27,040 | Stable | $31,268 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $31,143 | $36,959 | $40,144 | Stable | $38,480 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $54,080 | $76,350 | $88,114 | Stable | $78,872 |
| Delivery Driver | $29,636 | $39,520 | $45,760 | Significant increase | $34,826 |
| Construction Laborer | $33,602 | $37,440 | $40,560 | Stable | $40,727 |
| Electrician | $56,805 | $67,032 | $70,288 | Stable | $71,835 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $31,537 | $37,440 | $39,133 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $31,200 | $36,472 | $39,520 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $26,625 | $28,294 | $30,160 | Moderate decline | $33,764 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $32,240 | $39,520 | $40,542 | Moderate increase | $41,600 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $34,666 | $40,846 | $43,680 | Stable | $44,552 |
| HVAC Technician | $55,342 | $63,003 | $74,609 | Moderate increase | $71,406 |
| Registered Nurse | $76,915 | $91,340 | $98,993 | Moderate increase | $102,252 |
| Software Engineer | $92,900 | $114,765 | $127,746 | Significant decline | $154,403 |
| Data Engineer | $105,108 | $148,336 | $165,500 | Moderate increase | $138,000 |
| Accountant | $51,790 | $60,000 | $73,600 | Significant decline | $72,000 |
| Financial Analyst | $71,400 | $74,950 | $78,909 | Significant decline | $94,646 |
| HR Generalist/Manager | $57,594 | $67,500 | $75,000 | Significant increase | $74,477 |
| Marketing Specialist | $49,616 | $60,000 | $60,000 | Stable | $62,916 |
| Operations Manager * | $74,879 | $82,540 | $82,955 | Moderate increase | $86,294 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $31,876 | $53,631 | $62,042 | Significant increase | $55,908 |
| Account Manager | $56,688 | $75,205 | $86,358 | Stable | $94,009 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $60,072 | $78,053 | $78,053 | Moderate increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst | $78,280 | $95,583 | $104,504 | Significant increase | $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 | $55,093 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $54,026 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $35,906 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $52,000 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Information | $51,798 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $53,003 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $47,840 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $62,400 | Moderate increase | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $30,160 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Government | $63,014 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Spartanburg's unemployment rate fell to 3.8% in September, the lowest reading in over a year and a seventh consecutive month of statewide decline, while nonfarm payrolls rose 3,500 year-over-year to 181,200 — a pace that outstrips the state's already-strong 2.3% annual job growth. State regulators' late-August approval of Valara's roughly $3 billion data center, arriving weeks after the county's own data-center moratorium, signals a structural capital investment wave layered on top of a labor market that is already tighter than South Carolina's 4.1% average and the national 4.2% rate.
What it means
Tight local labor supply alongside a major approved capital project points to a metro economy operating near full capacity, which raises the practical question of whether the existing workforce and infrastructure can absorb a multi-billion-dollar construction and operations buildout without straining wages or housing capacity. Commerce leaders evaluating expansion or relocation decisions should weigh that Spartanburg's 3.8% unemployment rate leaves less slack than peer metros like Greenville (3.3%) or Columbia (3.6%), meaning new large-scale projects compete more directly for available labor. Current conditions suggest monitoring how the Valara project's construction phase interacts with existing manufacturing and logistics demand before assuming additional large employers can be absorbed without local wage or capacity pressure.
Looking ahead
Potential inflection point: Watch whether Valara's construction phase begins drawing measurably on the same labor pool serving existing manufacturing and logistics employers. Early signs of competition for skilled trades labor would be the first concrete test of how much slack the 3.8%-unemployment metro actually has.
Policy to monitor: County's data-center moratorium and the state's approval of the Valara project sit in tension; any zoning or permitting friction over the next 60 days will shape how quickly the project's economic effects reach the local labor market.
Worth watching: Professional-services advertised pay — software engineering, accounting, financial analysis — moved down significantly in Spartanburg this month while holding stable nationally. Track whether this reflects a one-month data artifact or an emerging gap between the metro's white-collar segment and its broader economic momentum.
Early indicator: South Carolina's labor force hit a record 2,679,964 in September, the fastest-growing in the nation. Whether Spartanburg's own labor force participation keeps pace will determine if the metro can supply workers for both its manufacturing base and the incoming data-center buildout without relying solely on in-migration.
Sources
- South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce — Spartanburg unemployment rate at 3.8% in September 2026
- Regional news sources — Valara's $3 billion Spartanburg data center approved Aug. 28, 2026
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — South Carolina unemployment at 4.1%/4.0%, national at 4.2%
- South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce — Durable goods now 63% of SC manufacturing employment, up from 36% in 1990
- South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce — South Carolina labor force reached record 2,679,964 in September 2026
- Bureau of Labor Statistics — Education/health services added 7,900 jobs statewide year-over-year
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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