Data / Rankings / Population / Cities in South Carolina

Cities in South Carolina by population

Charleston, SC had the highest population of 43 cities in 2021, at 152,328. York, SC had the lowest, at 8,681. The median was 24,768 and the figure for South Carolina was 5.19 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest152,328Charleston, SC
Lowest8,681York, SC
Median24,76843 cities
South Carolina5,194,346History

All cities, 2021

Charleston, SC: 152,328 personsCharleston, SC152,328Columbia, SC: 136,059 personsColumbia, SC136,059North Charleston, SC: 117,663 personsNorth Charleston, SC117,663Mount Pleasant, SC: 92,945 personsMount Pleasant, SC92,945Rock Hill, SC: 74,646 personsRock Hill, SC74,646Greenville, SC: 72,748 personsGreenville, SC72,748Summerville, SC: 51,243 personsSummerville, SC51,243Goose Creek, SC: 46,817 personsGoose Creek, SC46,817Sumter, SC: 43,260 personsSumter, SC43,260Florence, SC: 40,013 personsFlorence, SC40,013Greer, SC: 38,968 personsGreer, SC38,968Spartanburg, SC: 38,445 personsSpartanburg, SC38,445Hilton Head Island, SC: 37,660 personsHilton Head Island, SC37,660Myrtle Beach, SC: 37,014 personsMyrtle Beach, SC37,014Aiken, SC: 32,276 personsAiken, SC32,276Bluffton, SC: 31,710 personsBluffton, SC31,710Anderson, SC: 29,622 personsAnderson, SC29,622Fort Mill, SC: 27,930 personsFort Mill, SC27,930Conway, SC: 25,715 personsConway, SC25,715Mauldin, SC: 25,706 personsMauldin, SC25,706Simpsonville, SC: 24,777 personsSimpsonville, SC24,777North Augusta, SC: 24,768 personsNorth Augusta, SC24,768Lexington, SC: 24,392 personsLexington, SC24,392Easley, SC: 23,383 personsEasley, SC23,383Greenwood, SC: 22,399 personsGreenwood, SC22,399Hanahan, SC: 21,401 personsHanahan, SC21,401North Myrtle Beach, SC: 19,351 personsNorth Myrtle Beach, SC19,351Clemson, SC: 17,926 personsClemson, SC17,926West Columbia, SC: 17,672 personsWest Columbia, SC17,672Port Royal, SC: 15,006 personsPort Royal, SC15,006Beaufort, SC: 13,819 personsBeaufort, SC13,819Cayce, SC: 13,788 personsCayce, SC13,788Moncks Corner, SC: 13,727 personsMoncks Corner, SC13,727Tega Cay, SC: 13,210 personsTega Cay, SC13,210Orangeburg, SC: 12,927 personsOrangeburg, SC12,927Gaffney, SC: 12,577 personsGaffney, SC12,577James Island, SC: 12,041 personsJames Island, SC12,041Irmo, SC: 11,690 personsIrmo, SC11,690Fountain Inn, SC: 11,018 personsFountain Inn, SC11,018Newberry, SC: 10,721 personsNewberry, SC10,721Forest Acres, SC: 10,589 personsForest Acres, SC10,589Hardeeville, SC: 8,883 personsHardeeville, SC8,883York, SC: 8,681 personsYork, SC8,681Charleston, SC: 152,328 personsCharleston, SC152,328Columbia, SC: 136,059 personsColumbia, SC136,059North Charleston, SC: 117,663 personsNorth Charleston, SC117,663Mount Pleasant, SC: 92,945 personsMount Pleasant, SC92,945Rock Hill, SC: 74,646 personsRock Hill, SC74,646Greenville, SC: 72,748 personsGreenville, SC72,748Summerville, SC: 51,243 personsSummerville, SC51,243Goose Creek, SC: 46,817 personsGoose Creek, SC46,817Sumter, SC: 43,260 personsSumter, SC43,260Florence, SC: 40,013 personsFlorence, SC40,013Greer, SC: 38,968 personsGreer, SC38,968Spartanburg, SC: 38,445 personsSpartanburg, SC38,445Hilton Head Island, SC: 37,660 personsHilton Head Island, SC37,660Myrtle Beach, SC: 37,014 personsMyrtle Beach, SC37,014Aiken, SC: 32,276 personsAiken, SC32,276Bluffton, SC: 31,710 personsBluffton, SC31,710Anderson, SC: 29,622 personsAnderson, SC29,622Fort Mill, SC: 27,930 personsFort Mill, SC27,930Conway, SC: 25,715 personsConway, SC25,715Mauldin, SC: 25,706 personsMauldin, SC25,706Simpsonville, SC: 24,777 personsSimpsonville, SC24,777North Augusta, SC: 24,768 personsNorth Augusta, SC24,768Lexington, SC: 24,392 personsLexington, SC24,392Easley, SC: 23,383 personsEasley, SC23,383Greenwood, SC: 22,399 personsGreenwood, SC22,399Hanahan, SC: 21,401 personsHanahan, SC21,401North Myrtle Beach, SC: 19,351 personsNorth Myrtle Beach, SC19,351Clemson, SC: 17,926 personsClemson, SC17,926West Columbia, SC: 17,672 personsWest Columbia, SC17,672Port Royal, SC: 15,006 personsPort Royal, SC15,006Beaufort, SC: 13,819 personsBeaufort, SC13,819Cayce, SC: 13,788 personsCayce, SC13,788Moncks Corner, SC: 13,727 personsMoncks Corner, SC13,727Tega Cay, SC: 13,210 personsTega Cay, SC13,210Orangeburg, SC: 12,927 personsOrangeburg, SC12,927Gaffney, SC: 12,577 personsGaffney, SC12,577James Island, SC: 12,041 personsJames Island, SC12,041Irmo, SC: 11,690 personsIrmo, SC11,690Fountain Inn, SC: 11,018 personsFountain Inn, SC11,018Newberry, SC: 10,721 personsNewberry, SC10,721Forest Acres, SC: 10,589 personsForest Acres, SC10,589Hardeeville, SC: 8,883 personsHardeeville, SC8,883York, SC: 8,681 personsYork, SC8,681
persons. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Charleston, SC152,328+0.7%
2Columbia, SC136,059+0.1%
3North Charleston, SC117,663+1.8%
4Mount Pleasant, SC92,945+1.9%
5Rock Hill, SC74,6460%
6Greenville, SC72,748+1.8%
7Summerville, SC51,243+0.6%
8Goose Creek, SC46,817+1%
9Sumter, SC43,260-0.4%
10Florence, SC40,013+0.1%
11Greer, SC38,968+8.5%
12Spartanburg, SC38,445-0.4%
13Hilton Head Island, SC37,660+0.2%
14Myrtle Beach, SC37,014+2.9%
15Aiken, SC32,276+0.3%
16Bluffton, SC31,710+12%
17Anderson, SC29,622+0.4%
18Fort Mill, SC27,930+10.9%
19Conway, SC25,715+2%
20Mauldin, SC25,706+3.6%
21Simpsonville, SC24,777+4.8%
22North Augusta, SC24,768+1.2%
23Lexington, SC24,392+2.8%
24Easley, SC23,383+1.5%
25Greenwood, SC22,399-0.5%
26Hanahan, SC21,401+4%
27North Myrtle Beach, SC19,351+2.2%
28Clemson, SC17,926+0.9%
29West Columbia, SC17,672+1%
30Port Royal, SC15,006+1.7%
31Beaufort, SC13,819+0.7%
32Cayce, SC13,788+0.1%
33Moncks Corner, SC13,727+2.1%
34Tega Cay, SC13,210+2.7%
35Orangeburg, SC12,927-1.9%
36Gaffney, SC12,577-1.1%
37James Island, SC12,041+0.2%
38Irmo, SC11,690+1.6%
39Fountain Inn, SC11,018+4.8%
40Newberry, SC10,721+0.2%
41Forest Acres, SC10,589-0.4%
42Hardeeville, SC8,883+14.4%
43York, SC8,681+1.4%

Other periods

About this ranking

Resident population.

More on how it is measured
  • Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (Padrón).
  • Norway: Statistics Norway, 1 January.
  • Iceland and its municipalities: Statistics Iceland, 1 January.
  • United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July.
  • United Kingdom regions and local authorities: Office for National Statistics estimates for 30 June.
  • Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.
  • UN World Population Prospects estimates for 1 July cover the years before 1960 and the areas the World Bank does not publish, such as Taiwan.

The World Bank series exists for every country, so use it (through compare) to rank countries on one basis.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Census Bureau. (2026). Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals) (Cities in South Carolina by population, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/

MLA 9

Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in South Carolina by population, 2021. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 May 2026, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/south-carolina-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Cities in South Carolina by population, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/south-carolina-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in South Carolina by population, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/south-carolina-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_south_carolina_2021,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in South Carolina by population, 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/south-carolina-cities?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in South Carolina by population, 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/14
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/south-carolina-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/south-carolina-cities?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest population?

Charleston, SC, with 152,328 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest population?

York, SC, with 8,681 in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Population: other rankings

Cities in South Carolina: more rankings