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Occupational Licensing in South Carolina

South Carolina requires a licence for 121 of the 246 occupations the Archbridge Institute tracks, against a national median of 124. It ranks 16 of 51 on their index, where 1 is the most burdensome.

Licensed occupations
121
With any entry barrier
165
National rank
#16
In the South Atlantic
#4

Moving to South Carolina with a licence

South Carolina has no universal-recognition law, so an out-of-state licence generally has to be earned again. Universal recognition is the reform that lets someone already licensed elsewhere practise after moving, instead of repeating the training; 28 of the 51 jurisdictions have some version of it.

Licensed here, rarely elsewhere

These are the occupations South Carolina licenses that few other jurisdictions do — the clearest sign of where its rules go further than the national norm.

Every licensed occupation in South Carolina

All 121, alphabetically. Archbridge tracks 246 occupations in total, so anything absent here is either unlicensed in South Carolina or outside their list.

Where this comes from

The Archbridge Institute's State Occupational Licensing Index 2026, retrieved 2026-09-16. The index records whether an occupation needs a licence — it does not record fees or training hours, so nothing here says what a licence costs or how long it takes. The rank is Archbridge's own and is not part of the FreedomRankings score. Check the relevant South Carolina board before acting on any of it.

More on South Carolina: its freedom score and rank · school choice · homeschool laws