USA Today
Jon Swartz
CHARLESTON, S.C. — It may be 2,740 miles away, as the crow flies, but Charleston seems like a million miles away from the hustle, bustle and stress of Silicon Valley.
An idyllic beachfront on the Carolina coast, drawing 7 million tourists annually. Horse-drawn carriages and pastel antebellum houses with roots to the American Revolution. Fort Sumter in the distance, a reminder of where the first shots were fired in the Civil War.
And yet the economic formula is decidedly 21st Century after decades of relying extensively on the military, automotive and textile industries. The focus today is on high-wage jobs in an affordable, lifestyle-friendly setting.
Welcome to Silicon Harbor: Home to more than 250 tech companies employing 11,000. This port city has quietly become the No. 1 mid-sized U.S. metro area (500,000 to 1 million) for IT job growth, adding 4,000 jobs the past five years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Tech jobs comprise about 3% of jobs in the region, and account for 5% of the area’s payroll of $14 billion last year.
“Any community serious about having a tech community better pursue creating qualified workers and recruiting them,” says Ernest Andrade, head of Charleston’s tech-expansion efforts.
Announcement
July 2, 2026
Charleston County Economic Development is excited to launch its Job Development Incentive (JDI), a new program to support business growth and strengthen the region’s economic competitiveness.
Announcement
June 17, 2026
A new economic impact study conducted by University of South Carolina Research Economist Dr. Joseph Von Nessen found that companies that have located and grown in Charleston County through Charleston County Economic Development's efforts now support 79,241 jobs and generate $26.2 billion in annual economic activity across the county.
