Metro Job Market Pulse · General Market Conditions · September 2026
General Market Conditions Labor Market Report: Sumter, SC MSA — September 2026
Sumter jobless rate falls, but payrolls keep shrinking.
Sumter's unemployment rate eased to 5.4% in June with household employment up 2.9% year-over-year, even as nonfarm payrolls fell 1.6% to 37,400 jobs — a split picture against South Carolina's steadier 4.1% statewide rate.
Free archive edition. Published by WageScape as sent to subscribers; data as of September 2026.
Key indicators
- Sumter MSA unemployment rate: 5.4% — vs 4.1% South Carolina statewide, June 2026
- Sumter nonfarm payroll change: -1.6% YoY — 37,400 jobs, down from year-ago level
- Sumter household employment growth: +2.9% YoY — Tied for 19th-best among US metros
- National wage growth vs inflation: 3.0% vs 3.4% — First real-wage decline in two years, Sept 2026
Key takeaways
Unemployment improvement masks a shrinking payroll base.
Sumter's jobless rate fell to 5.4% with household employment up 2.9% annually, yet nonfarm payrolls dropped 1.6% over the same period to 37,400 jobs. That gap is consistent with workers finding income outside traditional local payrolls — a dynamic worth distinguishing from genuine business expansion when assessing metro economic health.
Sylvamo's warehouse buildout is the metro's clearest investment signal.
A 300,000-square-foot expansion at the Sumter Sheet Plant lands alongside a significant rise in warehouse/fulfillment advertised pay (to $34,320, still below the $38,000 national median). One large capital commitment is doing visible work in local sector momentum data, underscoring how concentrated Sumter's growth drivers currently are.
Sumter's jobless rate still trails the state by a wide margin.
June's 5.4% metro rate compares to South Carolina's 4.1% statewide figure, a gap of roughly 1.3 points that has persisted through 2026 even as the metro rate improved from a 6.7% January-February peak. Inland metros like Sumter continue lagging coastal counties such as Charleston, which posted 1.3% annual employment growth and 5.7% wage gains.
Wage growth in skilled trades outpaces the metro's broader wage picture.
Electrician and HVAC technician advertised pay both rose significantly locally ($69,050 and $77,500 respectively), tracking the statewide construction-sector strength reported in SC's July 2026 data. That divergence from flatter wage growth in office and administrative roles signals where real economic activity is concentrated in the metro.
Median advertised pay by role — Sumter, SC MSA
| Role | 25th percentile | Median advertised pay | 75th percentile | Metro trend | National median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Sales Associate | $21,641 | $27,040 | $30,115 | Moderate increase | $33,325 |
| Retail Cashier | $22,880 | $26,000 | $29,700 | Stable | $31,200 |
| Warehouse/Fulfillment Associate | $31,016 | $34,320 | $36,400 | Significant increase | $38,000 |
| CDL Truck Driver | $58,603 | $83,200 | $94,114 | Stable | $78,000 |
| Delivery Driver | $25,695 | $30,134 | $33,671 | Moderate decline | $34,344 |
| Construction Laborer | $30,453 | $36,400 | $37,652 | Significant increase | $40,560 |
| Electrician | $57,983 | $69,050 | $72,792 | Significant increase | $71,404 |
| Manufacturing Production Worker/Assembler | $29,042 | $33,280 | $35,100 | Stable | $39,520 |
| Customer Service Representative | $31,200 | $46,183 | $47,590 | Significant increase | $39,520 |
| Food Service Worker | $28,080 | $37,918 | $39,686 | Stable | $33,756 |
| Certified Nursing Assistant / Home Health Aide | $31,200 | $38,594 | $41,080 | Significant increase | $41,106 |
| Administrative Assistant/Office Clerk | $30,089 | $36,652 | $39,520 | Moderate decline | $43,680 |
| HVAC Technician | $61,710 | $77,500 | $80,225 | Significant increase | $70,720 |
| Registered Nurse | $82,477 | $92,672 | $98,063 | Moderate increase | $102,581 |
| Software Engineer * | $117,000 | $153,047 | $169,420 | Moderate increase | $153,652 |
| Data Engineer * | $99,196 | $139,736 | $157,843 | Moderate increase | $139,500 |
| Accountant | $47,826 | $59,876 | $60,358 | Stable | $72,182 |
| Financial Analyst | $56,901 | $79,533 | $90,000 | Stable | $94,782 |
| HR Generalist/Manager * | $52,500 | $70,000 | $81,254 | Significant increase | $75,000 |
| Marketing Specialist * | $44,021 | $58,918 | $70,334 | Stable | $62,354 |
| Operations Manager * | $75,000 | $82,540 | $82,954 | Moderate increase | $85,216 |
| Elementary/Secondary School Teacher | $42,359 | $59,201 | $66,041 | Significant increase | $56,731 |
| Account Manager | $62,629 | $80,000 | $87,500 | Moderate increase | $92,749 |
| Warehouse Manager * | $55,661 | $78,053 | $78,053 | Moderate increase | $75,000 |
| Business Analyst * | $72,870 | $90,182 | $102,577 | Stable | $98,279 |
* 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 | $53,480 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Manufacturing | $61,000 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Retail Trade | $34,728 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Transportation, Warehousing & Utilities | $52,800 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Information | $72,500 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
| Financial Activities | $46,072 | Significant decline | Significant increase |
| Professional & Business Services | $46,164 | Moderate decline | Significant increase |
| Education & Health Services | $68,640 | Stable | Significant increase |
| Leisure & Hospitality | $35,113 | Significant decline | Moderate increase |
| Government | $63,834 | Significant increase | Significant increase |
Local market conditions
Sumter's unemployment rate sat at 5.4% in June 2026 — nearly a point and a half above the statewide 4.1% rate — even as household employment grew a strong 2.9% year-over-year, a pattern consistent with a metro economy expanding on paper while nonfarm payrolls contracted 1.6% annually to 37,400 jobs. Sylvamo's new 300,000-square-foot warehouse expansion at its Sumter Sheet Plant and elevated advertised pay for warehouse/fulfillment roles (up significantly to a $34,320 metro median) point to logistics and manufacturing investment as the metro's clearest counterweight to broader payroll softness.
What it means
Divergence between rising household employment and shrinking nonfarm payrolls suggests Sumter's labor market gains are concentrated in self-employment, commuting-out, or informal work rather than local payroll expansion — a distinction that matters for anyone assessing whether the metro's business climate is actually strengthening. Commerce leaders evaluating site-selection pitches or expansion incentives should weigh the Sylvamo investment and strong warehouse-sector pay growth as a genuine bright spot against a nonfarm payroll base that has now contracted for multiple consecutive months. Current conditions suggest monitoring whether the state's broader construction and manufacturing momentum (the sectors driving SC's statewide gains) extends into Sumter's own payroll counts before treating the metro's household employment strength as the full picture.
Looking ahead
Expected release: Official September 2026 BLS data for the Sumter MSA is due in early October; watch whether nonfarm payrolls stabilize or extend the current multi-month contraction, which would reshape the metro's growth narrative.
Worth watching: Sylvamo's warehouse expansion and elevated warehouse-sector pay suggest logistics could offset manufacturing softness elsewhere in the metro — track whether additional capital announcements follow in adjacent logistics or distribution operations.
Emerging pressure point: South Carolina's five-month streak of declining unemployment has not fully reached Sumter, which still posts a jobless rate roughly 1.3 points above the state average; a continued gap would mark Sumter as a laggard relative to coastal-county momentum.
Potential inflection point: National payroll growth has slowed sharply (29,000 added in September versus a 45,000 trailing average) with wage growth falling below inflation for the first time in two years — a national headwind that could further dampen Sumter's already-soft nonfarm payroll trend if it persists into Q4.
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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