Construction · South Carolina

Construction in South Carolina

NAICS 23 · Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023

Benchmarking Construction in South Carolina

Construction (NAICS 23) in South Carolina reports 99,054 workers across 11,981 establishments, with $6.6B of aggregate annual payroll flowing through Census CBP 2023 filings. That represents 1.3% of national employment for this industry — a concentration ratio that tells you whether South Carolina is a primary labor market for this NAICS code or a smaller satellite. A share above 5% signals a meaningful regional cluster; below 1% usually means the state is not a structural fit for this industry at scale.

Wage benchmarking is where state-level data earns its keep. The average annual compensation for Construction employees in South Carolina is $66,752/yr, versus a national average of $76,580/yr. South Carolina pays below the national average for this industry — common in lower cost-of-living states or where the industry has a smaller, less specialized local workforce.

Profitability data is only available at the national level because the IRS Statistics of Income program does not publish state-level margin breakdowns. The national net profit margin for Construction is 6.3%, and while margins do vary by state, the direction of variance usually follows labor cost and establishment size — both shown above. For a complete picture, pair this state-industry view with the Construction national page (entity structure, SBA lending, sub-industries) and the South Carolina overview (top employers, payroll dispersion across industries).

Employment

99,054

Establishments

11,981

Annual Payroll

$6.6B

Avg Payroll/Employee

$66,752/yr

Compare to National Average

Profit Margin (National)

6.3% National

National avg — IRS SOI (no state-level profit data)

Avg Payroll/Employee

$66,752/yr South Carolina
$76,580/yr National

South Carolina vs National avg

Employment

99,054 South Carolina
7,659,459 National

South Carolina share of national

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Construction businesses are in South Carolina?
There are 11,981 Construction (NAICS 23) establishments in South Carolina, according to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data. These establishments employ 99,054 workers.
What is the average payroll for Construction in South Carolina?
The average annual payroll per employee for Construction in South Carolina is $66,752/yr. The national average for this industry is $76,580/yr. This data comes from the Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 survey.
How does South Carolina compare nationally for Construction?
South Carolina accounts for 1.3% of national employment in Construction, with 99,054 of 7,659,459 total US workers in this industry. The national profit margin for this industry is 6.3% (state-level profit data is not available from Census).
What is the profit margin for Construction?
The national net profit margin for Construction is 6.3%, based on IRS Statistics of Income data. Note that state-level profit margin data is not available from Census Bureau sources — this figure reflects the nationwide average across all business entities.
Disclaimer: PlainBizBench provides publicly available IRS and Census data for informational purposes only. This is not financial, tax, or business advice. Consult a qualified accountant or financial advisor for business-specific guidance.
Source: Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 · NAICS 23 · SC

Related

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBizBench Editorial

Source: U.S. Census Bureau — County Business Patterns / SUSB Industry employment scale, payroll, and firm-size benchmarks · 2025

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