South Carolina was among the 10 fastest growing states over the last decade, according to newly released figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The population one year ago was 4.56 million, a 13.7 percent increase above nine years before.
The largest South Carolina cities are: Columbia, 129,000; Charleston, 116,000; North Charleston, 98,000; Rock Hill, 69,000. And Mount Pleasant has a greater population than Greenville: Mount Pleasant, 66,000; Greenvile, 62,000. Columbia is the 187th largest U.S. city. Charleston is the fastest growing city in the state and 62nd fastest in he U.S., having grown 17 percent over the last decade.
The new census figures indicate that South Carolina’s poverty rate is 2.5 percent above the national rate. The state’s average poverty rate between 2000 and 2009 was 15.7 percent, compared to a national average of 13.2 percent.
The 2008 median household income for South Carolina was $44,600, compared to $52,000 nationally.
The state’s white population constitutes almost 70 percent of it’s inhabitants. Blacks are just under 28.5 percent, followed by residents of Hispanic ethnicity, 4.5 percent, Asian ethnicity, 1.3 percent, and American Indian ethnicity, 0.4 percent.
South Carolina had one of the largest increases in Hispanic population of any state during the previous decade, between 1990 and 2000–a 211 percent increase.
