CompTIA Newsroom

CompTIA Cyberstates™ 2018 finds South Carolina ranks 27th in tech employment

Columbia, S.C. – Employment in South Carolina’s technology industry expanded by an estimated 2,520 jobs in 2017 and contributed $10.8 billion to the state’s economy, according to Cyberstates™ 2018, the definitive annual analysis of the nation’s tech industry published today by CompTIA, the world’s leading technology industry association.

With 122,400 workers, South Carolina ranks 27th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in net tech employment.[1] This accounts for 5.4 percent of the state’s total workforce. The average tech industry wage in South Carolina is $79,480, compared to the state’s average private sector annual wage of $43,660.

“South Carolina’s technology sector is growing because Team South Carolina has placed a premium on developing a diverse economy where businesses in every industry can thrive,” said Gov. Henry McMaster. “Our state is home to some of the best and brightest in the world, and in order to reach our full potential, we must remain committed to training and educating a workforce that will be ready to fill the needs of every company that chooses to do business in South Carolina – including those in the ever-evolving technology industry.”

The tech sector is responsible for an estimated 5.6 percent ($10.8 billion) of the overall state economy. The state is home to some 6,665 tech business establishments.

South Carolina ranked 24th in Cyberstates Innovation Score in 2017. This ranking is based on a state-by-state per capita analysis of tech startups/new tech business formations + venture capital.

The state also saw a 24.3 percent jump in the number of job postings related to emerging technologies – – such as the Internet of Things, smart cities, drones, artificial intelligence, machine learning, virtual reality and augmented reality, and blockchain.

In total, South Carolina employers posted 24,390 jobs for technology positions last year.

Leading tech occupations in South Carolina include network architects, administrators., and support specialists (9,390 positions, up 2.8 percent last year), computer system and information security analysts (7,640 jobs, up 3.9 percent) and software and web developers (7,470 jobs, up 1.7 percent).

The strongest year-over-year job growth occurred in the categories of IT services and custom software services (+ 7.0 percent) and software (packaged) (+ 4.4 percent).

Cyberstates 2018 (#cyberstates) is based on CompTIA’s analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, EMSI, Burning Glass Technologies Labor Insights, and other sources. Estimates for 2017 are subject to change as government data is revised and updated. The complete Cyberstates 2018 report, with complete national, state and metropolitan level data, is available at http://cyberstates.org/

About CompTIA
The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is a leading voice and advocate for the $4.8 trillion global technology ecosystem; and the more than seven million technology professionals who design, implement, manage, and safeguard the technology that powers the U.S. economy. Through education, training, certifications, advocacy, philanthropy, and market research, CompTIA is the hub for advancing the tech industry and its workforce. Visit www.comptia.org to learn more.

Contact:

Preston Grisham                                                       
CompTIA                                                                   
pgrisham@comptia.org
202-682-4458

[1] Net tech employment includes tech industry workers in technical and non-technical positions, technical workers in other industries and self-employed technology workers.