Musicians and singers job market in South Carolina

Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.

The headline

South Carolina industry employment changed 1.1 percentage points above the U.S. benchmark

A data-driven view of the industries that employ Musicians and singers in South Carolina.

Verified QCEW 2026 Q1January to March 2026 · State coverage 100% · BLS QCEWCitationEvidence record

Occupation pay

What Musicians and singers earn in South Carolina

BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.

BLS OEWS source

Median hourly wage

$19.27South Carolina
Middle 50% of published wages
$13.11 – $47.84
U.S. median hourly wage
$47.80
Reference period
May 2025

The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.

Pay around South Carolina

How median pay varies by metro area

Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Musicians and singers, compared with the South Carolina median of $19.27.

South Carolina median$19.27
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC$63.36+228.8% vs. state
Middle 50%$63.31 – $63.82Published employment230
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC$28.50+47.9% vs. state
Middle 50%$22.53 – $39.08Published employment40
Charleston-North Charleston, SC$13.11−32.0% vs. state
Middle 50%$13.11 – $18.55Published employment140

Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the South Carolina median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.

Verified snapshot

Market at a Glance

Key changes in South Carolina’s weighted industry mix.

+1.3%Industry employmentSouth Carolina industry employmentU.S. +0.2%vs. +0.2% U.S.
-3.9%Establishments in weighted industriesSouth Carolina establishments in weighted industriesU.S. +2.1%vs. +2.1% U.S.
+2.4%Avg. weekly industry wageSouth Carolina avg. weekly industry wageU.S. +3.1% · not occupation payvs. +3.1% U.S. · not occupation pay
+1.1 ppGap vs. U.S. industry employmentState minus U.S. industry employment change

Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.

Published coverage: 28,051 represented establishments, 93.38% of the published industry mix.

Local research

What the data shows for musicians and singers in South Carolina

Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.

The highest-paying metro has a smaller employment market

Among 2 comparable metro estimates associated with South Carolina in OEWS May 2025, the pay leader and employment-size leader differ. Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC has the highest median hourly pay at $28.50, with estimated employment of 40. Charleston-North Charleston, SC has the largest employment estimate at 140, with median pay of $13.11. The pay leader's median is 117.4% higher; estimated employment describes existing jobs, not available vacancies.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Some metro estimates cross state lines. Higher nominal pay does not establish better living standards or better chances of finding a job.

This occupation is less concentrated in the state

South Carolina's share of employment in musicians and singers differs from the national share in OEWS May 2025. The published location quotient of 0.62 expresses the state share as 0.62 times the national share. The state estimate is 330 jobs, 0.9% of the national employment estimate for this occupation. It represents 0.14 jobs per thousand jobs in the state's OEWS employment universe. The ratio describes employment concentration, not current hiring or future growth.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

OEWS employment estimates describe covered wage-and-salary jobs and exclude self-employed workers; location quotients do not measure vacancies or worker demand.

Published median pay is below the U.S. median

A 59.7% difference separates South Carolina's median hourly wage for musicians and singers from the U.S. median in OEWS May 2025. At $19.27, the state median is below the national figure of $47.80. The estimates describe the middle of each wage distribution, without a living-cost adjustment.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Employment and establishment counts moved apart

In the industries that employ this occupation, South Carolina's establishment count changed -3.9% year over year in January to March 2026, while employment changed +1.3%. The measures therefore point in opposite directions. These observations do not establish an explanation for that difference.

January to March 2026 · BLS QCEW

Industry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology

Employment trends

Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.

Latest published values
  • South Carolina · 2026 Q1+1.3%
  • U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark+0.2%

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View every published value
Quarterly South Carolina industry employment changes and coverage
QuarterSouth CarolinaCoverage
2024 Q2+5.4%100%
2024 Q3+3.1%100%
2024 Q4+2.2%100%
2025 Q1+0.2%100%
2025 Q2+0.9%99.66%
2025 Q3+1.0%100%
2025 Q4+1.1%100%
2026 Q1+1.3%100%

How to read this chart

State trend and national reference

The solid line follows South Carolina’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.

Published quarters
8
Earliest quarter
2024 Q2
Latest quarter
2026 Q1
U.S. benchmark
+0.2%

Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.

Industry context

Where Musicians and singers Work

The occupation mix determines which South Carolina industries are weighted into this view.

Industries weighted into the South Carolina Musicians and singers context
Industry groupOccupation mixEmployment changeEstablishmentsAvg. weekly industry wage
Other services67.6%+0.8%11,829$968
Leisure and hospitality24.3%+1.5%16,222$509
Private education and health services6.0%+5.1%22,668$1,186
Information0.3%+0.9%5,663$2,423
Trade, transportation, and utilities0.2%+0.6%36,443$1,128

Which industries are growing?

4 weighted industries are growing

Only weighted industries with a published positive South Carolina employment change are listed.

  • Private education and health services+5.1%
  • Leisure and hospitality+1.5%
  • Information+0.9%
  • Other services+0.8%

The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.

Current South Carolina context

Current South Carolina Market Signals

Statewide indicators for all occupations in South Carolina. They are not Musicians and singers demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.

Statewide job postings

Indeed job postings · South Carolina

Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score

123.4Postings index · February 1, 2020 = 100Observation: Oct 23, 2026
+23.4%Versus the February 2020 baseline
-0.3%Change over about four weeksSep 25, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026

Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View values: Indeed postings index
Indeed postings index
Observation dateIndex (Feb 2020 = 100)
Jul 24, 2026121.18
Jul 31, 2026121.44
Aug 7, 2026120.57
Aug 14, 2026119.88
Aug 21, 2026120.13
Aug 28, 2026121.43
Sep 4, 2026122.01
Sep 11, 2026123.41
Sep 18, 2026123.65
Sep 25, 2026123.83
Oct 2, 2026124.13
Oct 9, 2026124.54
Oct 16, 2026122.70
Oct 23, 2026123.44

This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Nov 1, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.

Explore states and career fields · Methodology and limits

Statewide layoff notices

Statewide layoff-notice filings

South Carolina statewide

7 notices in this source

Notice dates from Aug 5, 2026 to Nov 2, 2026 (UTC), a rolling 90-calendar-day period.

What this means: These are statewide totals from notices dated in this period in South Carolina’s official tracking system. Reported positions are the counts published in those notices, not a count of people confirmed to have lost their jobs. No employer is identified.

Notices describe planned workforce changes, not confirmed job losses. Notices may be amended or withdrawn. This statewide context is not occupation-specific and does not affect the Job Market Health score. South Carolina’s state tracking system also records smaller Rapid Response events that fall below federal WARN thresholds, so it is not a list of federal WARN filings only.

South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce About WARN data

Source last checked

Career context

Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.

Questions answered by this release

Musicians and singers in South Carolina FAQs

Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.

Is employment growing for Musicians and singers in South Carolina?

The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the South Carolina industries weighted to Musicians and singers changed +1.3% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with +0.2% nationwide.

Are wages for Musicians and singers rising in South Carolina?

QCEW does not publish pay for Musicians and singers in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +2.4% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.

How complete is this South Carolina industry view?

The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.

Does this page show current Musicians and singers openings?

No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.

Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record

Methodology & Sources

Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.

Occupation
Musicians and singers
SOC code
27-2042
State
South Carolina
QCEW release label
QCEW 2026 Q1
Data period
2026 Q1
State industry employment, year over year
+1.3%State data coverage 100%
U.S. benchmark, year over year
+0.2%
Difference from U.S. benchmark
+1.1 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Establishments, year over year
-3.9%State data coverage 100%
Average weekly industry wage, year over year
+2.4%State data coverage 100%
Industry mix vintage
EP-2025-2035
BLS publication date
Aug 28, 2026
Source verification
Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
Canonical record URL
https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/musicians-and-singers/south-carolina#evidence-record
Derived by
JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix

Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.

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