Optometrists in South Carolina 247 establishments · 1,733 employees · 2024

Firms (SC)

247

Employment

1,733

Avg Annual Pay

$51,483

State Rank

#30 of 52

How South Carolina compares to national

Metric	South Carolina	National	South Carolina vs. U.S.
Establishments	247	21,552	1.1% of U.S. total
Avg annual pay	$51,483	$53,861	-$2,378 (-4.4%)
Location quotient	0.73	1.00	27% less dense than national
Avg firm size (employees)	7.0	7.1	—
Year-over-year firm growth	-1.2%	—	—

Reading this

An establishment is a single physical location where business is conducted. A firm with multiple locations counts as multiple establishments. "Avg pay" is wages and salaries per employee, including bonuses and tips — for proprietorships, the owner's take is largely outside this number. The location quotient (LQ) of 0.73 means optometrists are 27% under-represented in South Carolina's business mix relative to the U.S. average.

Top 10 states for optometrists

Rank	State	Firms	Avg Pay
1	California	2,662	$52,288
2	Texas	1,992	$51,104
3	Florida	1,430	$56,445
4	Ohio	899	$50,105
5	New York	891	$54,211
6	Pennsylvania	809	$54,663
7	Illinois	659	$54,581
8	North Carolina	656	$60,178
9	Georgia	646	$51,803
10	New Jersey	601	$62,037

Source. BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages — 2024 annual averages, private-ownership only, NAICS 621320. Establishment counts include any firm with at least one paid employee covered by state unemployment insurance.

SMB Density · firm counts, employment, and wages by industry × state · data from BLS QCEW 2024 annual (private ownership, state-level; mostly 6-digit NAICS, 3 specialty-trade industries at 5-digit aggregation) · data.json