South Carolina

South Carolina
State
EDT)
USPS abbreviation	SC
ISO 3166 code	US-SC
Traditional abbreviation	S.C.
Latitude	32°02′ N to 35°13′ N
Longitude	78°32′ W to 83°21′ W
Website	sc.gov

State symbols of South Carolina

Collard greens
Fossil	Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi)
Mineral	Amethyst
Rock	Blue Granite
Shell	Lettered olive
Other	Hogna carolinensis
State route marker
State quarter
Released in 2000
Lists of United States state symbols

South Carolina (/ˌkærəˈlaɪnə/ ^ⓘ KARR-ə-LIE-nə) is a state in the coastal Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia to the southwest across the Savannah River. Along with North Carolina, it makes up the Carolinas region of the East Coast. South Carolina is the 40th-largest and 23rd-most populous U.S. state with a recorded population of 5,118,425 according to the 2020 census.^[2] In 2019^[update], its GDP was $213.45 billion. South Carolina is composed of 46 counties. The capital is Columbia with a population of 136,632 in 2020;^[4] while its most populous city is Charleston with a 2020 population of 150,227.^[5] The Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC Combined Statistical Area is the most populous combined metropolitan area in the state, with an estimated 2023 population of 1,590,636.^[6]

South Carolina was named in honor of King

, it was readmitted to the Union on July 9, 1868.

During the early-to-mid 20th century, the state started to see economic progress as many textile mills and factories were built across the state. The civil rights movement of the mid-20th century helped end segregation and legal discrimination policies within the state. Economic diversification in South Carolina continued to pick up speed during and in the ensuing decades after World War II. In the early 21st century, South Carolina's economy is based on industries such as aerospace, agribusiness, automotive manufacturing, and tourism.^[9]

Within South Carolina from east to west are three main geographic regions, the

along the Atlantic Ocean.

History

Precolonial period

There is evidence of human activities in the area dating to about 50,000 years ago.^[10] At the time Europeans arrived, marking the end of the Pre-Columbian era around 1600, there were many separate Native American tribes, the largest being the Cherokee and the Catawba, with the total population being up to 20,000.^[11]

Up the rivers of the eastern coastal plain lived about a dozen tribes of Siouan background. Along the Savannah River were the Apalachee, Yuchi, and the Yamasee. Further west were the Cherokee, and along the Catawba River, the Catawba. These tribes were village-dwellers, relying on agriculture as their primary food source.^[11] The Cherokee lived in wattle and daub houses made with wood and clay, roofed with wood or thatched grass.^[12]

About a dozen or more separate small tribes summered on the coast harvesting oysters and fish, and cultivating corn, peas and beans. Travelling inland as much as 50 miles (80 km) mostly by canoe, they wintered on the coastal plain, hunting deer and gathering nuts and fruit. The names of these tribes survive in place names like

Exploration

The Spanish were the first Europeans in the area. From June 24 to July 14, 1521, they explored the land around Winyah Bay. On October 8, 1526, they founded San Miguel de Gualdape, near present-day Georgetown, South Carolina. It was the first European settlement in what is now the contiguous United States. Established with five hundred settlers, it was abandoned eight months later by one hundred and fifty survivors. In 1540, Hernando de Soto explored the region and the main town of Cofitachequi, where he captured the queen of the Maskoki (Muscogee) and the Chelaque (Cherokee) who had welcomed him.

In 1562 French

Colonization

Sixty years later, in 1629, the King of England

, an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "Father of Liberalism".

The Carolina slave trade, which included both trading and direct raids by colonists,[15]^: 109 was the largest among the British colonies in North America.^[15]: 65 Between 1670 and 1715, between 24,000 and 51,000 captive Native Americans were exported from South Carolina – more than the number of Africans imported to the colonies of the future United States during the same period.^{[16][15]: 237} Additional enslaved Native Americans were exported from South Carolina to other U.S. colonies.^[16] The historian Alan Gallay says, "the trade in Indian slaves was at the center of the English empire's development in the American South. The trade in Indian slaves was the most important factor affecting the South in the period 1670 to 1715".^[16]

In the 1670s, English planters from Barbados established themselves near what is now Charleston. Settlers from all over Europe built rice plantations in the

.

Meanwhile, Upstate South Carolina, west of the Fall Line, was settled by small farmers and traders, who displaced Native American tribes westward. Colonists overthrew the proprietors' rule, seeking more direct representation. In 1712, the former Province of Carolina split into North and South Carolina. In 1719, South Carolina was officially made a royal colony.

South Carolina prospered from the fertility of the lowcountry and the harbors, such as at Charleston. It allowed religious toleration, encouraging settlement, and trade in deerskin, lumber, and beef thrived. Rice cultivation was developed on a large scale on the back of slave labor.

By the second half of the 1700s, South Carolina was one of the richest of the Thirteen Colonies.^[17]

The American Revolution

On March 26, 1776, the colony adopted the

, becoming the eighth state to enter the union.

During the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), about a third of combat action took place in South Carolina,^[20] more than any other state.^[17] Inhabitants of the state endured being invaded by British forces and an ongoing civil war between loyalists and partisans that devastated the backcountry.^[20] It is estimated 25,000 slaves (30% of those in South Carolina) fled, migrated or died during the war.^[21]

Antebellum

America's first census in 1790 put the state's population at nearly 250,000. By the 1800 census, the population had increased 38 per cent to nearly 340,000 of which 146,000 were slaves. At that time South Carolina had the largest population of Jews in the sixteen states of the United States, mostly based in Savannah and Charleston,^[22] the latter being the country's fifth largest city.^[23]

In the Antebellum period (before the Civil War) the state's economy and population grew. Cotton became an important crop after the invention of the cotton gin. While nominally democratic, from 1790 until 1865, wealthy male landowners were in control of South Carolina. For example, a man was not eligible to sit in the State House of Representatives unless he possessed an estate of 500 acres of land and 10 Negroes, or at least 150 pounds sterling.^[24]

Columbia, the new state capital was founded in the center of the state, and the State Legislature first met there in 1790. The town grew after it was connected to Charleston by the Santee Canal in 1800, one of the first canals in the United States.

As dissatisfaction of the planters ruling class with the federal government grew, in the 1820s

was enacted to use whatever military force necessary to enforce federal law in the state, bringing South Carolina back into line.

An 1831 House Report from the Committee on Military Affairs noted that

Before the commencement of the war with Great Britain, and for a long time afterwards, the State of South Carolina was almost destitute of any of the means of military protection, excepting as such could be furnished by her own resources. In the harbor of Charleston alone were there any forts, and these were in so feeble a condition, that at a period, when a British squadron was engaged in sounding the depth of water off the bar, and its commander apparently meditating an attack upon the forts, the quantity of gunpowder in the harbor, belonging to the United States, was not more than sufficient to have enabled the garrison to fire a single round.[25]

In the United States presidential election of 1860, voting was sharply divided, with the South voting for the Southern Democrats and the North for Abraham Lincoln's Republican Party. Lincoln was anti-slavery, did not acknowledge the right to secession, and would not yield federal property in Southern states. Southern secessionists believed Lincoln's election meant long-term doom for their slavery-based agrarian economy and social system.^[26]

Lincoln was elected president on November 6, 1860. The state House of Representatives three days later passed the "Resolution to Call the Election of Abraham Lincoln as U.S. President a Hostile Act",^[27] and within weeks South Carolina became the first state to secede.^[17]

Civil War 1861–1865

On April 12, 1861, Confederate batteries began shelling the Union Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, and the American Civil War began. In November of that year, the Union attacked Port Royal Sound and soon occupied Beaufort County and the neighboring Sea Islands. For the rest of the war, this area served as a Union base and staging point for other operations. Whites abandoned their plantations,^[28] leaving behind about ten thousand enslaved people. Several Northern charities partnered with the federal government to help these people run the cotton farms themselves under the Port Royal Experiment. Workers were paid by the pound harvested and thus became the first enslaved people freed by the Union forces to earn wages.^[29]

Although the state was not a major battleground, the war ruined the state's economy. More than 60,000 soldiers from South Carolina served in the war,

marched across the state devastating plantations and most of Columbia. South Carolina would be readmitted to the Union on July 9, 1868.

Reconstruction 1865–1877

In

(1869), the Supreme Court ruled the ordinances of secession (including that of South Carolina) were invalid, and thus those states had never left the Union. However, South Carolina did not regain representation in Congress until that date.

Until the

that ended Reconstruction.

Populist and agrarian movements

The state became a hotbed of racial and economic tensions during the Populist and Agrarian movements of the 1890s. A Republican-Populist biracial coalition took power away from White Democrats temporarily. To prevent that from happening again, Democrats gained passage of a new constitution in 1895 which effectively

The 1895 constitution overturned local representative government, reducing the role of the counties to agents of state government, effectively ruled by the General Assembly, through the legislative delegations for each county. As each county had one state senator, that person had considerable power. The counties lacked representative government until home rule was passed in 1975.[38]

Governor "Pitchfork Ben" Tillman, a Populist, led the effort to disenfranchise the blacks and poor whites, although he controlled Democratic state politics from the 1890s to 1910 with a base among poor white farmers. During the constitutional convention in 1895, he supported another man's proposal that the state adopt a one-drop rule, as well as prohibit marriage between whites and anyone with any known African ancestry.

Some members of the convention realized prominent white families with some African ancestry could be affected by such legislation. In terms similar to a debate in Virginia in 1853 on a similar proposal (which was dropped), George Dionysius Tillman said in opposition:

If the law is made as it now stands respectable families in Aiken, Barnwell, Colleton, and Orangeburg will be denied the right to intermarry among people with whom they are now associated and identified. At least one hundred families would be affected to my knowledge. They have sent good soldiers to the Confederate Army, and are now landowners and taxpayers. Those men served creditably, and it would be unjust and disgraceful to embarrass them in this way. It is a scientific fact that there is not one full-blooded Caucasian on the floor of this convention. Every member has in him a certain mixture of ... colored blood. The pure-blooded white has needed and received a certain infusion of darker blood to give him readiness and purpose. It would be a cruel injustice and the source of endless litigation, of scandal, horror, feud, and bloodshed to undertake to annul or forbid marriage for a remote, perhaps obsolete trace of Negro blood. The doors would be open to scandal, malice and greed; to statements on the witness stand that the father or grandfather or grandmother had said that A or B had Negro blood in their veins. Any man who is half a man would be ready to blow up half the world with dynamite to prevent or avenge attacks upon the honor of his mother in the legitimacy or purity of the blood of his father.^{[39][40][41][42]}

The state postponed such a one-drop law for years. Virginian legislators adopted a one-drop law in 1924, forgetting that their state had many people of mixed ancestry among those who identified as white.

20th century

Early in the 20th century, South Carolina developed a thriving textile industry. The state also converted its main agricultural base from cotton, to more profitable crops. It would attract large military bases during World War I, through its majority Democratic congressional delegation, part of the one-party Solid South following disfranchisement of blacks.

In the late 19th century, South Carolina would implement Jim Crow laws which enforced racial segregation policies until the 1960s. During the early-to-mid part of the 20th century, millions of African Americans left South Carolina and other southern states for jobs, opportunities, and relative freedom in U.S. cities outside the former Confederate states. In total from 1910 to 1970, 6.5 million blacks left the South in the Great Migration. By 1930, South Carolina had a white majority population for the first time since 1708.^[43] South Carolina was one of several states that initially rejected the Nineteenth Amendment (1920) giving women the right to vote. The South Carolina legislature later ratified the amendment on July 1, 1969.

The struggle of the civil rights movement took place in South Carolina, as they did in other Southern states and elsewhere within the country. South Carolina would experience a much less violent movement than other Deep South states.^[44] This tranquil transition from a Jim Crow society occurred because the state's white and black leaders were willing to accept slow change, rather than being utterly unwilling to accept change at all.^[45] Other South Carolina political figures, like Sen. Strom Thurmond, on the other hand, were among the nation's most radical and effective opponents of social equality and integration.

During the mid-to-late 20th century, South Carolina started to see economic progress first in the textile industry and then in manufacturing. Tourism also started to form into a major industry within the state during the 20th century, especially in areas such as Myrtle Beach and Charleston.^[46]

21st century

As the 21st century progresses, South Carolina has attracted new business by having a 5%

South Carolina was one of the first states to stop paying for "early elective" deliveries of

On November 20, 2014, South Carolina became the 35th state to legalize same-sex marriages, when a federal court ordered the change.^[51]

As of 2022, South Carolina had one of the lowest percentages among all states of women in state legislature, at 17.6% (only five states had a lower percentage; the national average is 30.7%; with the highest percentage being in Nevada at 61.9%).^[52]

Geography

Regions

The state can be divided into three natural geographic areas which then can be subdivided into five distinct cultural regions. The natural environment is divided from east to west by the

, which marks the limit of navigable rivers.

Altogether, the state has a total area of 32,020.49 square miles (82,932.7 km²), of which 30,060.70 square miles (77,856.9 km²) is land and 1,959.79 square miles (5,075.8 km²) (6.12%) is water.^[54]

Atlantic Coastal Plain

The Atlantic

The Sandhills or Carolina Sandhills is a 10–35 mi (16–56 km) wide region within the Atlantic Coastal Plain province, along the inland margin of this province. The Carolina Sandhills are interpreted as eolian (wind-blown) sand sheets and dunes that were mobilized episodically from approximately 75,000 to 6,000 years ago. Most of the published luminescence ages from the sand are coincident with the last glaciation, a time when the southeastern United States was characterized by colder air temperatures and stronger winds.^[56]

Piedmont

Much of Piedmont consists of Paleozoic metamorphic and igneous rocks, and the landscape has relatively low relief. Due to the changing economics of farming, much of the land is now reforested in

. The larger rivers are navigable up to the fall line, providing a trade route for mill towns.

The northwestern part of Piedmont is also known as the Foothills. The Cherokee Parkway is a scenic driving route through this area. This is where Table Rock State Park is located.

Blue Ridge

The Blue Ridge consists primarily of Precambrian metamorphic rocks, and the landscape has relatively high relief. The Blue Ridge Region contains an

destination.

Lakes

South Carolina has several major lakes covering over 683 square miles (1,770 km²). All major lakes in South Carolina are human-made. The following are the lakes listed by size.^[58][59]

• Lake Marion 110,000 acres (450 km²)
• Clarks Hill Lake
  ) 71,100 acres (290 km²)
• Lake Moultrie 60,000 acres (240 km²)
• Lake Hartwell 56,000 acres (230 km²)
• Lake Murray 50,000 acres (200 km²)
• Russell Lake 26,650 acres (110 km²)
• Lake Keowee 18,372 acres (70 km²)
• Lake Wylie 13,400 acres (50 km²)
• Lake Wateree 13,250 acres (50 km²)
• Lake Greenwood 11,400 acres (50 km²)
• Lake Jocassee 7,500 acres (30 km²)
• Lake Bowen 1,534 acres (6.21 km²)

Earthquakes

South Carolina is the most seismically active state on the East Coast.^[60] Between July 1, 2021, and July 1, 2022, there were 74 recorded earthquakes in South Carolina,^[61] six of which exceeded a 3 magnitude.^[62] In 2021 and 2022, most of which were concentrated in Kershaw County and the coastal area of Charleston.^[61] The Charleston area demonstrates the greatest frequency of earthquakes in South Carolina. South Carolina averages 10–15 earthquakes a year below magnitude 3 (FEMA). The Charleston earthquake of 1886 was the largest quake ever to hit the eastern United States. The 7.0–7.3 magnitude earthquake killed 60 people and destroyed much of the city.^[63] Faults in this region are difficult to study at the surface due to thick sedimentation on top of them. Many of the ancient faults are within plates rather than along plate boundaries.

Climate

South Carolina has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa), although high-elevation areas in the Upstate area have fewer subtropical characteristics than areas on the Atlantic coastline. In the summer, South Carolina is hot and humid, with daytime temperatures averaging between 86–93 °F (30–34 °C) in most of the state and overnight lows averaging 70–75 °F (21–24 °C) on the coast and from 66–73 °F (19–23 °C) inland. Winter temperatures are much less uniform in South Carolina. Coastal areas of the state have very mild winters, with high temperatures approaching an average of 60 °F (16 °C) and overnight lows around 40 °F (5–8 °C).

Inland, the average January overnight low is around 32 °F (0 °C) in Columbia and temperatures well below freezing in the Upstate. While precipitation is abundant the entire year in almost the entire state, the coast tends to have a slightly wetter summer, while inland, the spring and autumn transitions tend to be the wettest periods and winter the driest season, with November being the driest month. The highest recorded temperature is 113 °F (45 °C) in Johnston and Columbia on June 29, 2012, and the lowest recorded temperature is −19 °F (−28 °C) at Caesars Head on January 21, 1985.

Snowfall in South Carolina is minimal in the lower elevation areas south and east of Columbia. It is not uncommon for areas along the southernmost coast to not receive measurable snowfall for several years. In the Piedmont and Foothills, especially along and north of Interstate 85, measurable snowfall occurs one to three times in most years. Annual average total amounts range from 2 to 6 inches. The Blue Ridge Escarpment receives the most average total measurable snowfall; amounts range from 7 to 12 inches.

South Carolina averages around 50 days of thunderstorm activity a year. This is less than some of the states further south, and it is slightly less vulnerable to tornadoes than the states which border on the Gulf of Mexico. Some notable tornadoes have struck South Carolina, and the state averages around 14 tornadoes annually. Hail is common with many of the thunderstorms in the state, as there is often a marked contrast in temperature of warmer ground conditions compared to the cold air aloft.^[64]

Hurricanes and tropical cyclones

The state is occasionally affected by

(2018).

Climate change

South Carolina released its Climate, Energy, and Commerce Committee Final Report in 2008. The report recommends a voluntary economy-wide goal of reducing emissions to 5% below 1990 levels by 2020. Key policy recommendations in the report include developing renewable portfolio standards, increasing use of local agricultural products, and increasing advanced recycling and composting.

Federal lands in South Carolina

Fort Sumter National Monument, site of the first battle of the American Civil War, in Charleston

• Mt. Pleasant
• Congaree National Park in Hopkins
• Cowpens National Battlefield near Chesnee
• Fort Moultrie National Monument at Sullivan's Island
• Fort Sumter National Monument in Charleston Harbor
• Kings Mountain National Military Park at Blacksburg
• Ninety Six National Historic Site in Ninety Six
• Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail
• Fort Jackson near Columbia
• Joint Base Charleston near Charleston
• Shaw Air Force Base near Sumter
• Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island at Parris Island

Flora and fauna

South Carolina is home to two dominant ecosystems, the bottomlands, which consist of floodplains and creeks, and the toplands. The floodplains contain large tracts of old and mature second growth cypress and tupelo forest. The uplands are home to longleaf pine, shortleaf pine, and mixed hardwood forests.^[68] The Longleaf Pine are an important part of South Carolina's coastal ecosystem. They improve soil, water, and air quality while providing a habitat for deer and songbirds.^[69] These forests are endangered by logging for agriculture and development.^[68][70]

Oysters are a critical part of South Carolina's coastal ecology. They serve a dual function, filtering the water and forming reefs that provide a habitat for small fish and crabs. Oysters are imperiled by overharvesting because young oysters need older oysters to latch on to as they age.^[70] South Carolina is home to many shorebirds including various sandpipers and ibises.^[71][72] The state serves as a stopover site for birds migrating farther south and a wintering ground for birds that do not fly as far south.^[72]

Major cities

Statistical areas

The following tables show the major metropolitan and combined statistical areas of South Carolina. Some statistical areas of South Carolina overlap with neighboring states of North Carolina and Georgia.

Rank	Metropolitan statistical area (MSA)[75]	Population (2023)[6]	Counties
1	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	2,805,115	Chester, Lancaster, York
2	Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC	975,480	Anderson, Greenville, Laurens, Pickens
3	Columbia, SC	858,302	Calhoun, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lexington, Richland, Saluda
4	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	849,417	Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester
5	Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC	629,429	Aiken, Edgefield
6	Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC	397,478	Horry
7	Spartanburg, SC	383,327	Spartanburg
8	Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC	232,523	Beaufort, Jasper
9	Florence, SC	199,630	Darlington, Florence
10	Sumter, SC	104,165	Sumter

Rank	Combined statistical area (CSA)[75]	Population (2023)[6]	Counties
1	Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC	3,387,115	Chester, Lancaster, York
2	Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC	1,590,636	Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Laurens, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg, Union
3	Columbia-Sumter-Orangeburg, SC	1,084,112	Calhoun, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lexington, Newberry, Orangeburg, Richland, Saluda
5	Myrtle Beach-Conway, SC	463,209	Georgetown, Horry

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1790	249,073		—
1800	345,591		38.8%
1810	415,115		20.1%
1820	502,741		21.1%
1830	581,185		15.6%
1840	594,398		2.3%
1850	668,507		12.5%
1860	703,708		5.3%
1870	705,606		0.3%
1880	995,577		41.1%
1890	1,151,149		15.6%
1900	1,340,316		16.4%
1910	1,515,400		13.1%
1920	1,683,724		11.1%
1930	1,738,765		3.3%
1940	1,899,804		9.3%
1950	2,117,027		11.4%
1960	2,382,594		12.5%
1970	2,590,516		8.7%
1980	3,121,820		20.5%
1990	3,486,703		11.7%
2000	4,012,012		15.1%
2010	4,625,364		15.3%
2020	5,118,425		10.7%
2023 (est.)	5,373,555	[2]	5.0%
Source: 1910–2020[76]

Ethnic composition as of the 2020 census

Race and ethnicity[77]	Alone		Total
White (non-Hispanic)	62.1%	62.1	65.5%	65.5
African American (non-Hispanic)	24.8%	24.8	26.3%	26.3
Hispanic or Latino[b]	—		6.9%	6.9
Asian	1.7%	1.7	2.3%	2.3
Native American	0.3%	0.3	1.8%	1.8
Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.1	0.1%	0.1
Other	0.4%	0.4	1.0%	1

South Carolina racial breakdown of population

Racial composition	1990[78]	2000[79]	2010[80]	2020[81]
White	69.0%	67.2%	66.2%	63.4%
Black	29.8%	29.5%	27.9%	25.0%
Asian	0.6%	0.9%	1.3%	1.8%
Native American	0.2%	0.3%	0.4%	0.5%
Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander	–	–	0.1%	0.1%
Two or more races	–	1.0%	1.7%	5.8%

The 2020 census determined the state had a population of 5,118,425, a 10.7% percentage increase since the 2010 census.^[82]

According to HUD's 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, there were an estimated 3,608 homeless people in South Carolina.^[83][84]

At the 2020 census, the racial make up of the state was 63.4% White (62.1%

At the 2019 census estimate, South Carolina had an estimated population of 5,148,714, which is an increase of 64,587 from the prior year and an increase of 523,350, or 11.31%, since the year 2010. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 36,401 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 115,084 people. According to the University of South Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health, Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies, South Carolina's foreign-born population grew faster than any other state between 2000 and 2005.^[85][86] South Carolina has banned sanctuary cities.^[87]

The top countries of origin for South Carolina's immigrants were Mexico, India, Germany, Honduras and the Philippines, as of 2018^[update].^[88]

Historical South Carolina racial breakdown of population^[89]

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Religion

According to the

According to the Public Religion Research Institute in 2020, Christianity remained the largest religion at approximately 74% of the population.^[94] Among the Christian population, evangelical Protestantism remained the majority; the irreligious community was 18% of the total population. Per ARDA's 2020 religion census, Southern Baptists remained the majority with 816,405 adherents, and Roman Catholics had 407,840 adherents, followed by United Methodists at 242,467. As other Baptist denominations had from 10 to 40,000+ members individually, nondenominational/interdenominational Protestants increased to 454,063 adherents.^[95]

Outside of Christianity, ARDA's 2020 study reported 6,677 Muslims in the state, and 830 Orthodox Jews; Reform Judaism consisted of 3,430 adherents. Altogether, Hinduism had 8,383 adherents.^[95]

In 2022, the Public Religion Research Institute estimated that Christians increased to 76% of the population (64% Protestant, 11% Catholic, and 1% Jehovah's Witness). The unaffiliated also increased, forming 20% of the state's population, although New Agers constituted 3% of the state. Judaism was 1% of the total population.

Economy

• Total employment (2021): 1,936,015^[2]
• Total employer establishments (2021): 116,896^[2]

In 2019, South Carolina's GDP was $249.9 billion, making the state the 26th largest by GDP in the United States.

Industrial outputs include textile goods, chemical products, paper products, machinery, automobiles, automotive products and tourism. Major agricultural outputs of the state are tobacco, poultry, cotton, cattle, dairy products, soybeans, hay, rice, and swine.[98]^[99] According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of March 2012, South Carolina had 1,852,700 nonfarm jobs of which 12% are in manufacturing, 11.5% are in leisure and hospitality, 19% are in trade, transportation, and utilities, and 11.8% are in education and health services. The service sector accounts for 83.7% of the South Carolina economy.^[100]

Many large corporations have moved their locations to South Carolina.

South Carolina also benefits from foreign investment. There are 1,950 foreign-owned firms operating in South Carolina employing almost 135,000 people.[105] Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) brought 1.06 billion dollars to the state economy in 2010.^[106] Since 1994, BMW has had a production facility in Spartanburg County near Greer and since 1996 the Zapp Group operates in Summerville near Charleston.

Transportation and infrastructure

The state has the fourth largest state-maintained highway system in the country, consisting of 11

On secondary roads, South Carolina uses a numbering system to keep track of all non-interstate and primary highways that the South Carolina Department of Transportation maintains. Secondary roads are numbered by the number of the county followed by a unique number for the particular road.

Major highways

Primary Interstates

Auxiliary (three-digit) Interstates

Rail

South Carolina passenger rail
Legend
Crescent to New York City Silver Star to New York City Spartanburg Palmetto, Silver Meteor to New York City Greenville Dillon Clemson Florence Camden Kingstree Columbia North Charleston Denmark Yemassee Crescent to New Orleans Silver Star to Miami Palmetto to Savannah Silver Meteor to Miami
This diagram: view talk edit

are the only Class I railroad companies in South Carolina, as other freight companies in the state are short lines.

. The Crescent route serves the Upstate cities, the Silver Star serves the Midlands cities, and the Palmetto and Silver Meteor routes serve the lowcountry cities.

Station	Connections
Camden	Silver Star
North Charleston	Palmetto   Silver Meteor
Columbia	Silver Star
Clemson	Crescent
Denmark	Silver Star
Dillon	Palmetto
Florence	Palmetto   Silver Meteor
Greenville	Crescent
Kingstree	Palmetto   Silver Meteor
Spartanburg	Crescent
Yemassee	Palmetto   Silver Meteor

Major and regional airports

There are seven significant airports in South Carolina, all of which act as regional airport hubs. The busiest by passenger volume is Charleston International Airport.

Education

As of 2010, South Carolina is one of three states that have not agreed to use competitive international

In 2014, the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled the state had failed to provide a "minimally adequate" education to children in all parts of the state as required by the state's constitution.^[111]

South Carolina has 1,144 K–12 schools in 85 school districts with an enrollment of 712,244 as of fall 2009.^[112][113] As of the 2008–2009 school year, South Carolina spent $9,450 per student which places it 31st in the country for per student spending.^[114]

In 2015, the national average SAT score was 1490 and the South Carolina average was 1442, 48 points lower than the national average.^[115]

South Carolina is the only state which owns and operates a statewide school bus system. As of December 2016, the state maintains a 5,582-bus fleet with the average vehicle in service being fifteen years old (the national average is six) having logged 236,000 miles.

Higher education

South Carolina has diverse institutions from large state-funded research universities to small colleges that cultivate a liberal arts, religious, or military tradition. (List below sorted by year established.)

• The
  U.S. Department of the Interior's National Register of Historic Places
  , forms an integral part of Charleston's colonial-era urban center. The Graduate School of the College of Charleston offers a number of degree programs and coordinates support for its nationally recognized faculty research efforts.
• The
  South Carolina College, and its original campus, The Horseshoe, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The university's main campus covers over 359 acres (1.5 km²) in the urban core less than one city block from the South Carolina State House
  . The University of South Carolina has around 35,000 students on the Columbia campus.

• Furman University is a private, coeducational, non-sectarian, liberal arts university in Greenville. Founded in 1826, Furman enrolls approximately 2,900 undergraduate and 500 graduate students. Furman is the largest private institution in South Carolina. The university is primarily focused on undergraduate education (only two departments, education and chemistry, offer graduate degrees).
• Erskine College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in Due West, South Carolina. The college was founded in 1839 and is affiliated with the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, which maintains a theological seminary on the campus.
• The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina is a state-supported, comprehensive college in Charleston. Founded in 1842, it is best known for its undergraduate Corps of Cadets military program for men and women, which combines academics, physical challenges and military discipline. In addition to the cadet program, the Citadel Graduate College offers evening certificate, undergraduate and graduate programs to civilians. The Citadel has 2,200 undergraduate cadets in its residential military program and 1,200 civilian students in the evening programs.
• Wofford College is a small liberal arts college in Spartanburg. Wofford was founded in 1854 with a bequest of $100,000 from the Rev. Benjamin Wofford (1780–1850), a Methodist minister and Spartanburg native who sought to create a college for "literary, classical, and scientific education in my native district of Spartanburg". It is one of the few four-year institutions in the southeastern United States founded before the American Civil War that operates on its original campus.
• Newberry College is a small liberal arts college in Newberry. Founded in 1856, Newberry is a co-educational, private liberal-arts college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) on a historic 90-acre (36 ha) campus in Newberry, South Carolina. It has roughly 1,110 students and a 14:1 student-teacher ratio. According to U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges, Newberry College ranks among the nation's top colleges in the southern region.
• historically black college
  in the state. After the Democratic-dominated legislature closed the university in 1877, before passing a law to restrict admission to whites, it designated Claflin as the only state college for blacks.
• Lander University is a public liberal arts university in Greenwood. Lander was founded in 1872 as Willamston Female College.^[119] The school moved to Greenwood in 1904 and was renamed Lander College in honor of its founder, Samuel Lander. In 1973 Lander became part of the state's higher education system and is now a co-educational institution. The university is focused on undergraduate education and enrolls approximately 3,000 undergraduates.
• Presbyterian College (PC) is a private liberal arts college founded in 1880 in Clinton. Presbyterian College enrolls around 1000 undergraduate students and around 200 graduate students in its pharmacy school. In 2007, Washington Monthly ranked PC as the No. 1 Liberal Arts College in the nation.^[120]
• Winthrop University, founded in 1886 as an all-female teaching school in Rock Hill, became a co-ed institution in 1974. It is now a public university with an enrollment of just over 6,100 students. It is one of the fastest growing universities in the state, with several new academic and recreational buildings being added to the main campus in the past five years, as well as several more planned for the near future. The Richard W. Riley College of Education is still the school's most well-known area of study.
• Clemson University, founded in 1889, is a public, coeducational, land-grant research university in Clemson. It has more than 19,000 undergraduate students and 5,200 graduate students from all 50 states and from more than 70 countries. Clemson is also the home to the South Carolina Botanical Garden.
• North Greenville University, founded in 1891, is a comprehensive university in Tigerville. It is affiliated with South Carolina Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention, and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. It has an enrollment of around 2,500 undergraduates.
• historically black university
  in Orangeburg. SCSU has an enrollment of nearly 5,000, and offers undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate degrees. SCSU boasts the only Doctor of Education program in the state.
• Anderson University, founded in 1911, is a selective comprehensive university that offers bachelor's and master's degrees. It enrolls about 2,900 students.
• Webster University, founded in 1915 in St. Louis, MO, with five extended campuses in SC, offers undergraduate and graduate degrees.
• Bob Jones University, founded in 1927, is a private, non-denominational and conservative Christian liberal arts university with a 2019 total enrollment of 3,000. BJU offers more than 60 undergraduate majors and 70 graduate programs.^[121][122]
• Coastal Carolina University, founded in 1954, became an independent state-supported liberal arts university in 1993. The university enrolls approximately 10,500 students on its 307-acre (1.24 km²) campus in Conway, part of the Myrtle Beach metropolitan area. Baccalaureate programs are offered in 51 major fields of study, along with graduate programs in education, business administration (MBA), and coastal marine and wetland studies.
• Charleston Southern University, founded in 1969, is a liberal arts university, and is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Charleston Southern (CSU) is on 300 acres, formerly the site of a rice and indigo plantation, in the city of North Charleston one of South Carolina's largest accredited, independent universities, enrolling approximately 3,400 students.
• Francis Marion University, formerly Francis Marion College, is a state-supported liberal arts university near Florence, South Carolina. It was founded in 1970 and achieved university status in 1992.

Health care

For overall health care, South Carolina is ranked 37th out of the 50 states in 2022, according to

There were 2.6 physicians per 1,000 people compared to the national average of 3.2 physicians.

Media

There are 36 TV stations (including PBS affiliates) serving South Carolina with terrestrial, and some online streaming access. Markets in which the stations are located include Columbia, Florence, Allendale, Myrtle Beach, Greenville, Charleston, Conway, Beaufort, Hardeeville, Spartanburg, Greenwood, Anderson and Sumter. There are multiple news companies in South Carolina, some major ones are

.

Government and politics

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