These are the fastest growing SC cities, new Census data shows. See how big they’re getting
Several South Carolina cities have grown more crowded lately, new Census data shows.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people living in U.S. metro areas increased by 3.2 million or 1.1% to 293.9 million between 2023 and 2024. And of the 10 fastest-growing metro areas between 2023 and 2024, nine were in the South, including two in South Carolina.
The Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach metro area ranked third and the Spartanburg metro area ranked 10th for percent growth between 2023 and 2024.
“Increasingly, population growth in metro areas is being shaped by international migration,” Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Census Bureau’s Population Division, said in a press release. “While births continue to contribute to overall growth, rising net international migration is offsetting the ongoing net domestic outmigration we see in many of these areas.”
But what about other South Carolina metro areas?
Here are the fastest growing metro areas in South Carolina, according to the U.S. Census. The data includes population estimates between 2020 and 2024, along with percent jumps between 2023 and 2024, which are the most recent statistics available.
Fastest growing SC metro areas
Charleston-North Charleston, SC Metro Area
- 2020: 799,642
- 2021: 803,525
- 2022: 831,230
- 2023: 851,698
- 2024: 869,940
- Percent change for 2023-2024: 2.15%
Columbia, SC Metro Area
- 2020: 829,466
- 2021: 830,179
- 2022: 848,473
- 2023: 859,158
- 2024: 870,193
- Percent change for 2023-2024: 1.28%
Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC Metro Area
- 2020: 928,208
- 2021: 930,775
- 2022: 961,030
- 2023: 979,608
- 2024: 996,680
- Percent change for 2023-2024: 1.74%
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC Metro Area
- 2020: 351,038
- 2021: 458,553
- 2022: 494,841
- 2023: 398,374
- 2024: 413,391
- Percent change for 2023-2024: 3.8%
Spartanburg, SC Metro Area
- 2020: 355,237
- 2021: 366,164
- 2022: 383,372
- 2023: 385,441
- 2024: 395,934
- Percent change for 2023-2024: 2.72%
Sumter, SC Metro Area
- 2020: 105,557
- 2021: 105,493
- 2022: 104,068
- 2023: 104,410
- 2024: 104,776
- Percent change for 2023-2024: 0.35%
Other key takeaways from Census on metros
- The population in metro areas also grew faster from 2023 to 2024 than between 2022 and 2023 (when it increased by 0.9% or 2.6 million people) largely due to higher levels of net international migration.
- The population in nearly 90% (341 of 387) of U.S. metro areas grew from 2023 to 2024, up from 317 between 2022 and 2023.
- Some metro areas that experienced population declines earlier in the decade, such as New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV, and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA, experienced population gains from 2023 to 2024.
- In 2024, 86.4% of the U.S. population lived in metro areas.
- Metro areas as a whole increased by nearly 3.2 million from 2023 to 2024, accounting for 96% of the nation’s total population growth.
- Roughly 60% of individual metro areas experienced natural increase and approximately 59% had net domestic in-migration (although U.S. metro areas overall experienced net domestic outmigration).
Top 10 fastest growing U.S. metro areas by % growth: 2023-2024
- Ocala, FL: 4.0%
- Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL: 3.8%
- Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC: 3.8%
- Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL: 3.5%
- Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT: 3.0%
- Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL: 3.0%
- Port St. Lucie, FL: 2.9%
- Midland, TX: 2,8%
- Odessa, TX: 2.8%
- Spartanburg, SC: 2.7%
This story was originally published April 8, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
