Written for the Florence County Class of 2026 — and every graduate from the last few years still finding their footing. This is your page.
🎓 Graduate Guide
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Florence Forward
Florence, SC & the Pee Dee Region
Your Community Guide
29501 · The Community Hub
Written for the Florence County Class of 2026 — and every graduate from the last few years still finding their footing. This is your page.
Nobody hands you a map when you walk off that stage.
One day you are a student with a schedule, a routine, and a meal plan. The next you are a graduate with a diploma, a phone, and a long list of things nobody formally taught you: how to find a job that fits, how to rent an apartment without getting taken advantage of, how to build something real in the city where you grew up.
If you graduated from a Florence County school in the last few years, or you are about to, this page is the map nobody gave you. Everything here is real, local, and available right now.
Most Florence County graduates do not find out about SC Works until they have already been job hunting for three months on their own. That is three months of unnecessary frustration.
SC Works Pee Dee is located at 1558 West Evans Street, open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The center offers free resume writing, mock interviews, job placement assistance, and access to computers for your job search. No appointment needed. No cost. No catch. You walk in, tell them where you are, and they help you figure out where to go next.
This is not a government waiting room. It is a career center staffed by people whose job is to get Florence County residents hired. Use it before you send out your first resume, not after ten rejections have worn you down.
Also worth knowing: the Florence Goodwill Job Link Center at 1551 Second Loop Road offers additional job placement resources for graduates who want a second option or who live on that side of town.
Florence County's job market is deeper than most graduates realize. The three anchors are healthcare, manufacturing, and public service. Each one is actively hiring.
Healthcare is Florence's largest employer and its most stable career path for young adults. McLeod Health employs approximately 15,000 team members across seven hospitals and more than 90 physician practices throughout its 18-county service area. McLeod Regional Medical Center has delivered care to the people of Northeastern South Carolina for more than 119 years, with specialized services in Heart and Vascular, Cancer, Surgery, Orthopedics, and Women's and Children's care. Entry-level positions, clinical roles, administrative positions, and support staff roles are posted on an ongoing basis. MUSC Health Florence Medical Center is a second major healthcare employer in the same part of the city.
Manufacturing runs deep in the Pee Dee region. Honda of South Carolina, ABB, and GE Healthcare are among the employers who recruit directly from Florence-Darlington Technical College's trade and certification programs. If you completed a certification at FDTC, those employers already know the program and what it produces. That relationship carries real weight when you apply.
The City of Florence is worth considering for any graduate looking for long-term stability. The city employs over 500 individuals across a wide range of departments and offers a full benefits package including state group insurance, dental, vision, life insurance, long-term disability, and an Employee Assistance Program with free professional counseling visits. For a first job out of school, city employment offers benefits that private employers at the entry level often do not match.
Renting your first apartment in Florence is more affordable than in most South Carolina cities, and that advantage is real if you use it correctly.
One-bedroom units in Florence currently average $1,089 per month, up 7.4 percent over the past year. That is still well below comparable units in Columbia, Charleston, and Greenville. The most active zip codes for Florence County renters are 29501, 29505, and 29506.
Rule 1: Your income needs to be three times the rent. Most Florence landlords require this on the application. A standard approval requires a credit score of 600 or above, no prior evictions, and monthly gross income equal to at least three times the rent. If your first job does not clear that threshold, find a roommate or a less expensive unit before applying. A rejection goes on your rental history.
Rule 2: Distance from your job matters more than the apartment itself. Traffic on David McLeod Boulevard at 5 p.m. is real. If your job is near the medical district on East Cheves Street, an apartment on the west side of Florence adds daily commute time that compounds over a full year. Map the drive before you fall in love with a floor plan.
Rule 3: Ask what utilities are included. Some Florence apartments cover water and trash in the rent. Others do not. Renovated units near the medical district in West Florence frequently include both, which changes the real monthly cost significantly. Calculate the total, not just the number on the listing.
Not every graduate walks off the stage knowing what comes next. If that is where you are, you are not behind. You are in good company.
If a four-year degree was not your path, or if the degree you have is not leading where you expected, Florence-Darlington Technical College's short-term programs offer a real reset. Welding, HVAC, CNA, and forklift certification programs run as short as nine months. WIOA funding is available, meaning the training can be free for qualifying students. The outcome is not a fallback. Welders and HVAC technicians in South Carolina earn competitive wages, and the employers who want them are already here in Florence County.
The checklist on Young Florence SC was built for students approaching graduation, but the resources on it do not expire. FAFSA for community college enrollment, SC Works registration, ECCF scholarship applications for continuing education — most of these remain open. Check what you may have missed.
If this season is harder than you expected, financially, emotionally, or both, Florence has people and places that can help. The support section on Young Florence SC lists real local resources for young adults navigating difficult stretches. Asking for help is not a step backward.
Some graduates will leave. That is a legitimate choice, and it is not a failure. But many Florence graduates leave because they assume there is nothing here, and then find out years later what they walked away from.
Florence at the crossroads of I-20 and I-95 is not the same place it was ten years ago. The Rail Trail. The restaurants on Evans Street. The medical district that is one of the most respected healthcare systems in the Carolinas. The manufacturing base that produces real trade careers with real wages. The arts community built around ArtFields. The Florence County Museum. The people who chose to stay and build something.
Florence is not a place you settle for. It is a place you choose. And right now, it is hiring.
McLeod Health Careers
jobs.mcleodhealth.orgFDTC Programs
fdtc.eduYoung Florence SC Full Resource Guide
helloflorencesc.com/young-florenceEach story in this series highlights a real opportunity, resource, or path that young people in Florence should know about.
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