Average weekly wages increased in four counties of the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in the third quarter of 2024 and fell in the other three.
Average weekly wages increased by $26 in McDuffie County, $19 in Richmond County, $4 in Aiken County, and $10 in Edgefield County. In percentage terms, only the Aiken County wage increase did not better inflation over the three-month period.
Average weekly wages in Burke County fell $123 to $1275, the lowest level since 2006. (See why below)
Columbia County wages fell $10 to $922, and Lincoln County wages fell just a dollar to $784.
Wages are reported by firms and so represent the county of the location of the firm, not necessarily the worker. The highest weekly wage is $1,194 for Aiken County followed by $1,115 for Richmond County but workers may be residents in Columbia County or any other county. Richmond and Aiken County also account for the largest number of employees with over 103,000 workers in Richmond County and over 65,000 in Aiken County. There are over 39,000 employees in Columbia County.
Besides wages falling in Burke County, employment there is down to 7,274 – the lowest level since 2015. The changes in employment and wages in Burke County can be closely traced to the construction of units 3 and 4 at Plant Vogtle. Official construction of unit 3 began in March 2013 and began commercial operation in July 2023. Unit 4 was connected to the grid a year later.
At its peak in 2020, there were over 15,000 employees in Burke County. There is not a lot of finer detail in the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but in 2021 close to 5,500 workers were employed in construction. Between 2013 and 2016 the average was just 100. Since the completion of construction at Plant Vogtle, total employment numbers have returned to normal levels for the county.
