They came for affordable housing and jobs at poultry processing plants and produce farms, repeating a pattern seen in other parts of the U.S., but one that was still relatively new to South Carolina. The growth hasn’t slowed.
“That is our fastest growing demographic,” Moore said.
Close behind are people moving from blue states like New York, California and Washington. Most of them are older White people purchasing homes west of Columbia along Lake Murray, which has approximately 500 miles of shoreline and Persimmon Hill Golf Club nearby, home to the longest golf hole in South Carolina.
“We’re getting growth from people who are leaving those high tax, liberal places,” Moore said.
Aerial view of Lake Murray, one of the Midland’s biggest tourism draws. Retirees are moving in to developments along the 500-acre shoreline.
South Carolina’s White growth, at 1.3 percent from 2023 to 2024, led the 50 states but was lower than the 2.1 percent increase in Washington, D.C.
Those numbers don’t necessarily mean South Carolina is getting less diverse, said George Hayward, survey statistician and demographer for the U.S. Census Bureau’s population estimates branch.
While the state’s Black population has declined overall to 25 percent of the total (from 29.4 percent in 2000), the Hispanic, Asian and two or more race groups have all been growing each year since at least 2000 and represent their highest shares of the population since then, he pointed out.
And although they’re smaller in numbers, the American Indian, Alaskan Native and Pacific Islander populations have also grown steadily during this time, although together they represent less than 0.5 percent of the state’s population.
“Diversity is about more than just one group growing or shrinking,” Hayward said. “And it really depends on how it’s measured.”
Eric Gonzalez, Victor Barrios and Paulo Valencia paint the outside of The Added Touch, Tuesday, August 20, 2024, in Saluda. Most of the people in Saluda work on nearby poultry or produce farms, and the number of Hispanic-owned businesses has swelled in the past decade.
Jasper County growth fueled by retirees
Sandwiched between Savannah and Beaufort County, Jasper County has drawn retirement-age people moving to age 55+ communities such as Latitude Margaritaville Hilton Head.