Cities in South Carolina by population

Charleston, SC had the highest population of 43 cities in 2023, at 156,771. York, SC had the lowest, at 9,123. The median was 26,506 and the figure for South Carolina was 5.39 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest156,771Charleston, SC

Lowest9,123York, SC

Median26,50643 cities

South Carolina5,390,798History

All cities, 2023

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

Rank	Cities	2023 persons	Change on 2022
1	Charleston, SC	156,771	+1.4%
2	Columbia, SC	141,370	+1.4%
3	North Charleston, SC	121,910	+2.6%
4	Mount Pleasant, SC	95,549	+0.9%
5	Rock Hill, SC	75,552	+0.4%
6	Greenville, SC	73,675	+1%
7	Summerville, SC	51,866	+0.5%
8	Goose Creek, SC	49,607	+3.7%
9	Greer, SC	44,658	+5.8%
10	Sumter, SC	42,960	+0.2%
11	Florence, SC	40,606	+1.1%
12	Myrtle Beach, SC	39,838	+3.5%
13	Spartanburg, SC	39,350	+1.7%
14	Hilton Head Island, SC	38,303	+0.6%
15	Bluffton, SC	35,341	+2.7%
16	Fort Mill, SC	33,574	+8.8%
17	Aiken, SC	32,826	+1.2%
18	Anderson, SC	30,509	+1.5%
19	Conway, SC	28,358	+3%
20	Mauldin, SC	28,185	+4.6%
21	Simpsonville, SC	27,684	+3.2%
22	Easley, SC	26,506	+8.1%
23	North Augusta, SC	25,769	+2.4%
24	Lexington, SC	24,995	+1.2%
25	Greenwood, SC	22,560	+0.5%
26	Hanahan, SC	21,916	+2%
27	North Myrtle Beach, SC	20,380	+2.4%
28	West Columbia, SC	18,407	+3.5%
29	Clemson, SC	17,941	+0.2%
30	Moncks Corner, SC	16,718	+9.3%
31	Port Royal, SC	16,558	+4.6%
32	Tega Cay, SC	13,976	+2.8%
33	Beaufort, SC	13,867	+0.7%
34	Cayce, SC	13,731	+0.1%
35	Orangeburg, SC	13,449	+0.5%
36	Fountain Inn, SC	13,062	+11.1%
37	Gaffney, SC	12,524	+0.5%
38	James Island, SC	12,325	+1.5%
39	Hardeeville, SC	12,077	+17.1%
40	Irmo, SC	11,938	+0.8%
41	Newberry, SC	10,922	+1.4%
42	Forest Acres, SC	10,442	-0.6%
43	York, SC	9,123	+4.9%

Other periods

About this ranking

Resident population. 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, 2023) [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, 2023. 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=2023. 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, 2023. 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=2023.

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, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/south-carolina-cities?period=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{census_cities_in_south_carolina_2023,
  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, 2023}},
  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=2023. 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, 2023
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=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/south-carolina-cities?period=2023.
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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Rank Cities in South Carolina by population using official data, and cite the source.

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Questions

Which city has the highest population?

Charleston, SC, with 156,771 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest population?

York, SC, with 9,123 in 2023.

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.