SC growing faster than most states, new 2024 report shows. Here’s what to know
Even though South Carolina sits as the 10th smallest state in the nation, its population continues to grow.
According to a 2024 World Population Report, South Carolina’s growth rate is 1.06% and holds one of the highest move-in-to-move-out ratios, with 2.05 move-ins happening for every move-out.
South Carolina gained 101,296 households that moved in and 68,369 that moved out, based on the latest tax return data from the IRS. These move-ins provided a 1.65% increase in South Carolina’s population.
The top three spots that people are moving from are New York, North Carolina and New Jersey.
The top three largest cities are Columbia, Charleston and North Charleston based on US Census Data. These are also the only cities in the state with a population over 100,000.
- Columbia: 136,632
- Charleston: 150, 227
- North Charleston: 114,852
However, the urbanized areas around these proper cities make up even more of the population. For example, Charleston County has a population of over 400,000.
The leading largest counties in the state include Greenville, with 525,534 people and Richland with a population of 416,147.
The most populated area in the state is within Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson counties, making up a population of over 1 million people.
Beaufort County is one of the top 10 most populated locations in the state and has seen a 7% growth increase since 2020.
The cities of Hilton Head and Bluffton are also popular moving destinations, as they rank within the top 15 most populous cities in the state with a combined population of 75,811.
With South Carolina’s population steadily on the rise, here are some interesting facts about its population growth:
All of the population growth has come in less than half of the counties.
South Carolina residents who were born in the state dropped from 80% to 52% between 1970 and 2023.
The average age in South Carolina is approximately 38.8 years old.
Within the next 10 years, there will be more residents above the age of 64 than below the age of 18.
