Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
According to which metric? I know when it comes to municipal population, Columbia does and I'd imagine it's the same for MSA.
Charleston is the most well-known, prestigious, and historic city in the state, and the Charleston area is adding the most people of any other in SC, so that kinda puts it over the top compared to its statistical peers. Because of those things, if you were to ask most people who aren't population stats nerds like us what the largest city in SC is, they'd probably be more apt to say Charleston.
I agree with most things you say, other than Charleston adding the most people.
I’m only talking about numbers in this thread, not about power, prestige or importance. Out of all the state’s CBSA’s, I noticed Charleston’s gained the most people from 2010 to 2020.
I know i've repeated this 14,523 times, but its the #1 reason why I think this is all silly. This is disingenuous, I presume purposefully, because without Spartanburg there is no honest picture. They share a city (Greer), they share jobs (Michelin, BMW, inland port, etc), they share an airport (the runway is in both counties), a media market, a trade area. They share a CofC and business alliance. Without a sign telling you, you cannot tell where Greenville ends and Spartanburg begins.
There are kids in Spartanburg who even are in the Greenville County Schools attendance zone. I've never heard of that before. People commute from as far as Anderson County to BMW in Spartanburg, a good 40-50 minute commute. I'm sure Laurens folks do too.
I dont know the exact numbers, but it can be argued that most of the BMW growth has been Greenville rather than Spartanburg centric, even though its in Sburg. They're together. GSP is one.
Trying to use this for bragging rights just doesn't make any sense to me when you know its not true. If Disney says that Black Widow is the #1 movie in theaters, when in reality 90% of people watched at home, while no one watched Fast and Furious at home, yet BW made slightly more money overall - Disney can spin it sure, but I dont get the brags when its obviously not true. That's what this is. You can say Charleston was the #1 gainer, but in reality, its simply not true. That's not a knock on Charleston, its obviously red hot. But so is the Upstate. If Spartanburg was truly its own place, the argument would be moot. The same argument can be used for Raleigh.
But this is a debate that really is serving no purpose. I need to stop spending energy on it. I'm just that bored and the "we're #1" just feels so played out. And this is made even more silly considering the fact people keep complaining about how infrastructure is not keeping up. Not all growth is smart growth. But I finally digress.
The Census Bureau might agree with you now. We’ll see soon enough. But until they change it - since I’m only comparing U.S. Census Bureau-designated CBSA population figures among others, I note that Greenville-Anderson’s is bigger than Charleston-North Charleston’s but that Charleston-North Charleston’s gained more people from 2010 to 2020.
I don’t understand disagreement with that, and there’s nothing disingenuous about my analysis. It’s not even an analysis. It’s what Quickfacts tells me and I’m sticking to it.
Reminder: I have never said anyone was #1 in anything other than the Census Bureau totals: CBSA, county, city - take your pick.
Number one region in population? Different topic. What’s a region? Coastal? Upstate? Midlands? Two Census Bureau-designated CBSAs that we just go ahead and treat as one regardless of how the Census Bureau defines them?
Last edited by Charlestondata; 08-14-2021 at 02:59 PM..
But some other interesting numbers to view are the income and education numbers. I haven’t been able to do it by CBSA or county, only by city (municipality).
But some other interesting numbers to view are the income and education numbers. I haven’t been able to do it by CBSA or county, only by city (municipality).
If you are referring to quickfacts, those numbers are not updated and you will have to wait a while. The bureau still has not released everything. Some of it comes out in the fall, and other data wont be available until 2022. I said that already but it likely got lost in the whos #1 shuffle.
If you are referring to quickfacts, those numbers are not updated and you will have to wait a while. The bureau still has not released everything. Some of it comes out in the fall, and other data wont be available until 2022. I said that already but it likely got lost in the whos #1 shuffle.
Indeed. I looked again. The last numbers are estimates from 2019. I suspect they’ll be close.
GVL + SBG + AND + PICK = 147k. Most of that growth being Greenville focused (Greenville, Greer, Powdersville).
CHS + BERK + DOR = 135k.
Charleston area may have higher growth rates but the Upstate is still adding more people. Myrtle Beach adding more than anybody - and gets more tourists. Myrtle Beach is well known across the US. I know Californians who know Myrtle Beach. Columbia is no slouch. Rock Hill/Fort Mill is next in line - and one thing about York is its not simply a bedroom county like some of the other Charlotte counties. Theyre getting corporate, which will help growth even further.
Like I said, yall are free to see it how you want, but I dont think Charleston is above Greenville and Columbia. I'm talking more than numbers. SC has a big 3, not a big 1 and medium 2. Only other state imo, that's like this is Ohio.
By Charleston area, I was referring to the MSA but yes, the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson CSA (which also includes Laurens County) added the most when considering CSAs. Charleston is the only large metro in the state to not have a CSA so I was considering MSAs for the sake of making it a statistical apples-to-apples comparison.
Quote:
Greenville is a machine right now. Columbia may not have the mega development fire that Charleston and Greenville do right now, but its still very stable, home of USC, the capital, and for what its worth, still has the largest skyline, which a lot of regular folks look at and it warps their view of whats large and small. Columbia also gets the largest touring acts, which is another thing that warps regular peoples views. "Beyonce came to Columbia??"
We can go in circles about this until 2045, but it's still big 3 to me. And I'm glad SC is that way.
Perceptions are changing on that front though, especially since the recession kind of shook up the order of things and they are reflecting growth trends more than anything. I do agree that for now it's the Big Three but it's telling that when folks on the General U.S. and City vs City subforums talk discuss SC (either in a versus thread or in terms of what it offers as a state), by and large Charleston and Greenville get mentioned most and more often than not, Columbia is omitted altogether. I've been on this forum long enough to know that most certainly wasn't always the case. And I don't think it will stay that way myself but all things considered, it's not in a disfavorable position now and I can think of more than a few places that would love to be in its position.
It just so happens that in the case of Charleston, the premier city cachet it has had for a while now coincides with its officially regained status as the state's largest city.
Quote:
I dont know man. It's straight from the bureau's Friday release. I studied it for like an hour to present this info to the thread. Can break it down from the US as a whole all the way to county. I'm baffled how the black pop can drop as well, but I'm going with the bureau for now rather than guesstimates, until I see something.
Baffling indeed although you and I would account for at least two among that number lol.
I think that one big reason why SC hasn't attracted a sizable number of Black professional transplants over the years (Columbia has performed the best here) is the lack of prominent and large HBCUs which can serve as local magnets of growth for that demographic. And the most prominent and largest one we do have would arguably be SC State, the only public 4-year HBCU in the state, or some may say Claflin is the most prominent as it been among the top-ranked HBCUs nationwide over the past decade. And neither are located in any of the state's largest or fastest-growing cities; as a matter of fact, there are none in Charleston, Greenville, Spartanburg, Florence, Myrtle Beach, or Beaufort. That's just soooo weird, especially when all of NC's five largest cities has an HBCU and three of GA's five largest do.
I think also that it’s largely because Atlanta and to a lesser degree Charlotte have become known as meccas for Black professionals. I don’t know how many Black people are escaping the limited-options Orangeburg and Dillon areas, for instance, for Columbia, Charleston and Greenville, except maybe to go to college and then leave the state.
Here’s The Post and Courier’s take. Apologies to those who don’t subscribe. I won’t copy and paste The Who article. I don’t feel comfortable doing that.
“The nation became increasingly racially and ethnically diverse in the past decade, and the number of White residents who described themselves as neither Hispanic nor multi-racial declined for the first time. In South Carolina, the non-Hispanic White population grew by 215,812 from 2010 to 2020, more than any other racial or ethnic group.
“Racial and ethnic comparisons to earlier census reports aren’t precise because the U.S. Census Bureau didn’t ask if people were Hispanic until 1980 and didn’t allow people to select more than one race until 2000. The number of people self-identifying as multi-racial increased 276 percent since the 2010 census, an analysis by NPR reported.”
Black people are escaping these areas. The whole 95 corridor is escaping, and it seems Columbia is the biggest benefactor. Blacks are going to metro Charleston, but not Charleston County. Greenville County alone was a bigger gainer than metro Charleston. Matter of fact every other major county in SC was a bigger gainer than metro Charleston.
Not sure what's going on with Charleston, and Beaufort. Dont think its "black people want away from the water. Savannah's black pop went up. Dont think it can all be blamed on "expense." Some of the most expensive areas in Columbia, Charlotte, and Atlanta have sizable black pop. Charleston may simply lack the black opportunities that Columbia, Greenville, Charlotte, and Atlanta have.
Matter of fact, Charlotte's suburb, Rowan, population 142K, gained more black people than the entire state of SC. Wait till you see how much Charlotte and Atlanta gained total. I think it's clear where everyone is going. Maybe the number is wrong? Maybe its right, who knows. I just hope SC can reverse and keep growing in diversity, especially Charleston. Chas Co gained 2,848 Asians, but Greenville Co gained 4,132.
change from 2010 to 2020:
Charleston: -11,641
Berkeley: 7,879
Dorchester: 3,467
Net gain: -295
Chatham (Savannah): 2,921
Greenville: 6,684
Anderson: 420
Spartanburg: 5,665
Net gain: +12,769
Richland: 13,680
Lexington: 5,402
Kershaw: 68
Net gain: +19,150
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
