Largest Cities in South Carolina: Ranked by Population

The largest city in South Carolina in our data is Charleston, SC, with an estimated 628,377 people, followed by Columbia, SC (560,041) and Greenville, SC (484,465). 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 big are the largest cities in South Carolina?

Of the 103 places with pages, 8 have more than 100,000 residents, 17 have between 25,000 and 100,000, and 78 have fewer than 25,000. The median place has about 12,227 people. The ten largest places account for about 63% of the combined population of all pages, which shows how concentrated the state's population is across communities. Greenville County contributes 9 of the top 50.

Which counties do the top 50 belong to?

The 50 places on this list are spread across 22 counties of South Carolina. Greenville County has 9 (Greenville, Mauldin, Greer, Simpsonville, Taylors, Wade Hampton, Five Forks, Gantt, Berea); Horry County has 5 (Myrtle Beach, Conway, Socastee, North Myrtle Beach, Red Hill); Beaufort County has 4 (Hilton Head Island, Beaufort, Bluffton, Port Royal). 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. Charleston, SC ranks 72nd among all US places by estimated population in our data. 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 largest city in South Carolina? Charleston (628,377 people).
• 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.