Counties in South Carolina by business establishments (QCEW)

Charleston County had the highest business establishments (QCEW) of 46 counties in 2015, at 13,681. McCormick County had the lowest, at 137. The median was 901 and the figure for South Carolina was 122,383. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest13,681Charleston County
Median90146 counties
South Carolina122,383History

Map of counties, 2015

Abbeville County: 356 countAiken County: 2,862 countAllendale County: 181 countAnderson County: 3,562 countBamberg County: 303 countBarnwell County: 404 countBeaufort County: 5,120 countBerkeley County: 2,583 countCalhoun County: 249 countCharleston County: 13,681 countCherokee County: 908 countChester County: 550 countChesterfield County: 692 countClarendon County: 595 countColleton County: 729 countDarlington County: 1,088 countDillon County: 493 countDorchester County: 2,232 countEdgefield County: 353 countFairfield County: 358 countFlorence County: 3,198 countGeorgetown County: 1,966 countGreenville County: 13,644 countGreenwood County: 1,445 countHampton County: 383 countHorry County: 8,516 countJasper County: 633 countKershaw County: 1,221 countLancaster County: 1,207 countLaurens County: 893 countLee County: 301 countLexington County: 6,372 countMcCormick County: 137 countMarion County: 545 countMarlboro County: 380 countNewberry County: 762 countOconee County: 1,518 countOrangeburg County: 1,669 countPickens County: 2,110 countRichland County: 9,601 countSaluda County: 265 countSpartanburg County: 6,011 countSumter County: 2,017 countUnion County: 463 countWilliamsburg County: 594 countYork County: 5,102 count
  • Under 400
  • 400 to 600
  • 600 to 900
  • 900 to 2,000
  • 2,000 to 4,300
  • 4,300 and over
count, 2015. Source: BLS, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Boundaries: U.S. Census Bureau cartographic boundary files.

All counties, 2015

Charleston County: 13,681 countCharleston County13,681Greenville County: 13,644 countGreenville County13,644Richland County: 9,601 countRichland County9,601Horry County: 8,516 countHorry County8,516Lexington County: 6,372 countLexington County6,372Spartanburg County: 6,011 countSpartanburg County6,011Beaufort County: 5,120 countBeaufort County5,120York County: 5,102 countYork County5,102Anderson County: 3,562 countAnderson County3,562Florence County: 3,198 countFlorence County3,198Aiken County: 2,862 countAiken County2,862Berkeley County: 2,583 countBerkeley County2,583Dorchester County: 2,232 countDorchester County2,232Pickens County: 2,110 countPickens County2,110Sumter County: 2,017 countSumter County2,017Georgetown County: 1,966 countGeorgetown County1,966Orangeburg County: 1,669 countOrangeburg County1,669Oconee County: 1,518 countOconee County1,518Greenwood County: 1,445 countGreenwood County1,445Kershaw County: 1,221 countKershaw County1,221Lancaster County: 1,207 countLancaster County1,207Darlington County: 1,088 countDarlington County1,088Cherokee County: 908 countCherokee County908Laurens County: 893 countLaurens County893Newberry County: 762 countNewberry County762Colleton County: 729 countColleton County729Chesterfield County: 692 countChesterfield County692Jasper County: 633 countJasper County633Clarendon County: 595 countClarendon County595Williamsburg County: 594 countWilliamsburg County594Chester County: 550 countChester County550Marion County: 545 countMarion County545Dillon County: 493 countDillon County493Union County: 463 countUnion County463Barnwell County: 404 countBarnwell County404Hampton County: 383 countHampton County383Marlboro County: 380 countMarlboro County380Fairfield County: 358 countFairfield County358Abbeville County: 356 countAbbeville County356Edgefield County: 353 countEdgefield County353Bamberg County: 303 countBamberg County303Lee County: 301 countLee County301Saluda County: 265 countSaluda County265Calhoun County: 249 countCalhoun County249Allendale County: 181 countAllendale County181McCormick County: 137 countMcCormick County137Charleston County: 13,681 countCharleston County13,681Greenville County: 13,644 countGreenville County13,644Richland County: 9,601 countRichland County9,601Horry County: 8,516 countHorry County8,516Lexington County: 6,372 countLexington County6,372Spartanburg County: 6,011 countSpartanburg County6,011Beaufort County: 5,120 countBeaufort County5,120York County: 5,102 countYork County5,102Anderson County: 3,562 countAnderson County3,562Florence County: 3,198 countFlorence County3,198Aiken County: 2,862 countAiken County2,862Berkeley County: 2,583 countBerkeley County2,583Dorchester County: 2,232 countDorchester County2,232Pickens County: 2,110 countPickens County2,110Sumter County: 2,017 countSumter County2,017Georgetown County: 1,966 countGeorgetown County1,966Orangeburg County: 1,669 countOrangeburg County1,669Oconee County: 1,518 countOconee County1,518Greenwood County: 1,445 countGreenwood County1,445Kershaw County: 1,221 countKershaw County1,221Lancaster County: 1,207 countLancaster County1,207Darlington County: 1,088 countDarlington County1,088Cherokee County: 908 countCherokee County908Laurens County: 893 countLaurens County893Newberry County: 762 countNewberry County762Colleton County: 729 countColleton County729Chesterfield County: 692 countChesterfield County692Jasper County: 633 countJasper County633Clarendon County: 595 countClarendon County595Williamsburg County: 594 countWilliamsburg County594Chester County: 550 countChester County550Marion County: 545 countMarion County545Dillon County: 493 countDillon County493Union County: 463 countUnion County463Barnwell County: 404 countBarnwell County404Hampton County: 383 countHampton County383Marlboro County: 380 countMarlboro County380Fairfield County: 358 countFairfield County358Abbeville County: 356 countAbbeville County356Edgefield County: 353 countEdgefield County353Bamberg County: 303 countBamberg County303Lee County: 301 countLee County301Saluda County: 265 countSaluda County265Calhoun County: 249 countCalhoun County249Allendale County: 181 countAllendale County181McCormick County: 137 countMcCormick County137
count. Source: BLS, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCounties2015
count
Change on 2014
1Charleston County13,681+8.8%
2Greenville County13,644+6.6%
3Richland County9,601+3.6%
4Horry County8,516+7.1%
5Lexington County6,372+8.2%
6Spartanburg County6,011+2.2%
7Beaufort County5,120+4%
8York County5,102+2.4%
9Anderson County3,562+3%
10Florence County3,198+1.6%
11Aiken County2,862+2.1%
12Berkeley County2,583+6.4%
13Dorchester County2,232+2.9%
14Pickens County2,110-0.1%
15Sumter County2,017+0.8%
16Georgetown County1,966+5%
17Orangeburg County1,669-0.4%
18Oconee County1,518+2.2%
19Greenwood County1,445+3.4%
20Kershaw County1,221+5%
21Lancaster County1,207+4.3%
22Darlington County1,0880%
23Cherokee County908+3.4%
24Laurens County893+3.8%
25Newberry County7620%
26Colleton County729+0.8%
27Chesterfield County692+1.3%
28Jasper County633+5.7%
29Clarendon County595+3.1%
30Williamsburg County594+0.7%
31Chester County550+2%
32Marion County545+1.7%
33Dillon County493-1%
34Union County463-0.6%
35Barnwell County404+0.5%
36Hampton County383+2.4%
37Marlboro County380+2.2%
38Fairfield County358+4.1%
39Abbeville County356+0.8%
40Edgefield County353+0.3%
41Bamberg County303+2.7%
42Lee County301+5.6%
43Saluda County265+0.4%
44Calhoun County249+1.6%
45Allendale County1810%
46McCormick County1370%

Other periods

About this ranking

Average number of establishments with jobs covered by unemployment insurance during the year, all industries, private and government, from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. An establishment is a single place of business, such as a factory, store or office; a company with several locations has several.

Counts places of business, not firms: for firms use employer_firms. Changes in how large employers report their locations can move the count without any change in activity.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2015/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties (Counties in South Carolina by business establishments (QCEW), 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2015/a/industry/10.csv

MLA 9

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties, Counties in South Carolina by business establishments (QCEW), 2015. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 21 Aug. 2026, https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2015/a/industry/10.csv. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/south-carolina-counties?period=2015. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Counties in South Carolina by business establishments (QCEW), 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2015/a/industry/10.csv. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/south-carolina-counties?period=2015.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties, Counties in South Carolina by business establishments (QCEW), 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2015/a/industry/10.csv, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/south-carolina-counties?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_counties_in_south_carolina_2015,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties: Counties in South Carolina by business establishments (QCEW), 2015}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2015/a/industry/10.csv},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/south-carolina-counties?period=2015. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2015/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties: Counties in South Carolina by business establishments (QCEW), 2015
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/21
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2015/a/industry/10.csv
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/south-carolina-counties?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/business-establishments/south-carolina-counties?period=2015.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. https://data.bls.gov/cew/data/api/2015/a/industry/10.csv. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  - 
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Rank Counties in South Carolina by business establishments (QCEW) using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which county has the highest business establishments (QCEW)?

Charleston County, with 13,681 in 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which county has the lowest business establishments (QCEW)?

McCormick County, with 137 in 2015.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW): annual average establishments, total covered, all industries (NAICS 10), nation, states and counties. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Business establishments (QCEW): other rankings

Counties in South Carolina: more rankings