York County, South Carolina
November 2022 Summary
Kelly Reddecliff, Research Manager


The world seems particularly volatile as 2022 nears the end. Headlines on COVID have been replaced with war, political unrest and inflation that has seen prices rise 8.2% year-over-year. The local economy is mirroring national trends with low unemployment, 3.2% as of August, but prices spiking on nearly everything raising fears that a recession is looming.

Despite worrisome headlines, there is positive news. Employment in York County reached its highest level to date with 109,722 jobs in the county as of first quarter, with the Transportation and Warehousing industry growing at the fastest rate. The vast majority of those jobs are specifically in the Warehousing industry, likely a response to pent up retail demand caused by pandemic era policy. Wages also show continued growth with the Real Estate, Rental and Leasing industry recording the highest gains. Real Estate also leads York County in terms of GDP, surpassing the Manufacturing industry in 2020.

Employment in York County reached its highest level to date with 109,722 jobs in the county as of first quarter, with the Transportation and Warehousing industry growing at the fastest rate. 

Demand for housing remains strong with median home sale prices rising 17.6% year-over-year. However, the market is weakening in terms of new listings and the pace of home sales. The Federal reserve’s interest rate hike is also dampening the rate of price increases. The median price for a single family home in York County now stands at $385,000. New construction injected much needed inventory into York County’s multifamily market; however, the vacancy rate is still below 5% and supply constraints continue to put upward pressure on pricing. The average effective rent in York County is currently $1,524 per month, the third highest in the Charlotte region behind Mecklenburg and Lancaster counties.

York County continues to see strong demand for industrial buildings, absorbing more than 1.5M square feet in the past year, mainly due to demand in the aforementioned warehousing industry. This has driven the vacancy rate down to 4.4%; however, 2.2M square feet of new industrial space is in the construction pipeline and poised to meet demand. The office market, on the other hand, is weakening with annual net absorption coming in at (-85,202) square feet over the past 12 months. This has pushed the vacancy rate up to 7.1%, despite challenges York County’s vacancy rate is still well below the regional average of 11.1%. Office markets remain in flux as companies continue to sort out remote, flex and in-office work options. Local office and industrial real estate continued to see rent increases while remaining moderately more affordable than the Charlotte region.

Below you will find York County Economic Development's November 2022 Economic Indicator report. This report is intended to provide insights on current trends and the overall economic health of York County compared to the surrounding region. The data includes the most up to date information available at time of publication.

Check back here for quarterly updates, or subscibe to our quarterly newsletter to have it sent straight to your inbox. See link below for a print friendly PDF of the report.

York County Economic Indicators_November 2022