Most Densely Populated Cities in South Carolina: Ranked by People per Square Mile

The densest city in South Carolina in our data is Sangaree, SC, with about 3,859 people per square mile, followed by Woodfield, SC (3,447) and St. Andrews, SC (3,388). This list ranks the top 50 places among the 103 South Carolina communities with at least 5,000 residents.

What are the top 50 in South Carolina?

How dense are the cities in South Carolina?

The densest place is about 3 times as dense as the median place in the state, which has about 1,414 people per square mile. At the other end, Ridgeland, SC has about 78. Under our scale, 0 places are an urban core (over 5,000 per square mile), 78 are suburban, and the rest are small towns or rural. Greenville County contributes 13 of the top 50.

Which counties do the top 50 belong to?

The 50 places on this list are spread across 17 counties of South Carolina. Greenville County has 13 (Sans Souci, Simpsonville, Greenville, Five Forks, Wade Hampton, Mauldin, Taylors, Berea, P); Lexington County has 5 (Seven Oaks, West Columbia, Lexington, Irmo, Oak Grove); Horry County has 5 (Garden City, Socastee, Forestbrook, Myrtle Beach, Red Hill). Counties with several entries are usually centers of a metropolitan area, where one large city is surrounded by many suburbs that each pass the 5,000-resident threshold.

How does South Carolina compare with the rest of the country?

The median South Carolina place with a page has about 12,227 residents, compared with about 13,459 nationwide, so the state's typical community is about the same size as the national typical place. The state has 394 communities in total, of which 103 reach 5,000 residents. See the national ranking of the largest cities for comparison.

Quick answers about South Carolina cities

• Which is the densest city in South Carolina? Sangaree (3,859 per square mile).
• How many South Carolina cities have more than 100,000 people? 8 in our data.
• How many have 25,000 to 100,000? 17.
• What is the typical size? About 12,227 residents for a place with a page.

How is this ranking made?

The data comes from the SimpleMaps US Cities Database, which gives each place an estimated population and a density in people per square kilometer. We convert density to people per square mile and rank the places with at least 5,000 residents. Boundaries matter: a city that includes large parks or farmland scores lower on density than a compact city of the same size, and population estimates can include areas that share a city's ZIP codes. Read why population figures differ and how density is calculated before you quote a number.

Where to go next

Rankings use dataset estimates, not official counts.