51 South Carolina Business Stats & Facts For 2025

Here are 51 business stats about South Carolina for 2025.

Basics:

Population: 5,373,555 (US Census 2020)
Population desnity per square mile: 170.30
GDP: $322,259 (millions USD)
GDP Per Capita: $60,550
Median household income (in 2022 dollars): $63,623
Real GDP Growth Rate: 3.60%
Total Employment: 2.4m
Unemployment Rate: 3.2%

Rankings

% Share of National Economy: 1.18%
State Economic Growth Rank (out of 50): 25
Population Growth Rank (out of 50): 10
Business Growth Rank (out of 50): 7
State Growth Rank in Employment (out of 50): 40

Biggest Industries In South Carolina By Revenue

1. Hospitals: $20.2b
2. New Car Dealers: $16.3b
3. Automobile & Light Duty Motor Vehicle Manufacturing: $15.7b
4. Gas Stations with Convenience Stores: $12.6b
5. Professional Employer Organizations: $11.8b
6. Warehouse Clubs & Supercenters: $11.6b
7. Supermarkets & Grocery Stores: $11.4b
8. Commercial Banking: $11.3b
9. Life Insurance & Annuities: $10.1b
10. Health & Medical Insurance: $9.9b

Biggest Employers In South Carolina

1. Walmart: 36,148 (1.5%)
2. Prisma Health: 28,761 (1.2%)
3. BMW Group: 11,000 (0.5%)
4. Compagnie Generale Des Etablissements Michelin: 9,000 (0.4%)
5. Lowes Companies Inc: 8,651 (0.4%)
6. United States Postal Service: 7,640 (0.3%)
7. Amazon.Com: 6,000 (0.3%)
8. Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System: 6,000 (0.3%)
9. Home Depot: 5,701 (0.2%)
10. Target Corp: 4,363 (0.2%)

Small Businesses In South Carolina

Number of Small Businesses 479,314
Percent of bossiness that are small businesses: 99.40%
Number of employees: 839,283
Share of Employment: 42.20%
Number of New Businesses In The Past Year: 21,778
Number of Businesses That Closed In The Past Year: 13,074
Net Change In New Businesses: 8,704

Number of Businesses With No Employees: 395,185
Number of Businesses with 1-19 Employees: 73,673
Number of Businesses with 20-499 Employees: 10,456
Share of Businesses Owned By Women: 44.60%
Share of Businesses Owned By Veterans: 9.00%
Share of Hispanic Owned Businesses: 4.90%
Share of Businesses Owned By Racial Minorities: 21.10%

Fortune 500 Companies In South Carolina

Number of Fortune 500 Headquaters: 1
Biggest Company: Sonoco Products
Biggest Company Type: Packaging, Containers
Number of Employees: 22,000
Revenue (in millions): $7,251

Taxes In South Carolina

State Corporate Tax Rate: 5.00%
State Corporate Tax Rate Brackets: $0

State Sales Tax Rate: 6.00%
State Sales Tax Rank (out of 50): 17
Average Local Sales Tax Rate: 1.50%
Max Local Sales Tax Rate: 3.00%
Average Combined Sales Tax Rate: 7.50%
Combined Sales Tax Rank (out of 50): 18

Minimum State Income Tax Rate If You’re Single: 0.00%
Minimum State Income Tax Rate If You’re Married: 0.00%

General South Carolina Population Facts

In civilian labor force, total, percent of population age 16 years+: 59.50%
In civilian labor force, female, percent of population age 16 years+: 55.60%
Share of population which is foreign born: 5.30%
Mean travel time to work (minutes), workers age 16 years+: 25.5

Housing

Number of Housing Units: 2,490,344
Owner-occupied housing unit rate: 70.90%
Median value of owner-occupied housing units: $216,200
Median gross rent per month: $1,065
Households with a computer: 92.70%
Households with a broadband Internet subscription: 85.00%

Education

High school graduate or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+: 89.30%
Bachelor’s degree or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+: 30.60%

Also See

• South Carolina Registered Agent Services
• South Carolina Secretary of State Business Search
• How To Form an LLC In South Carolina
• South Carolina Bookkeepers & Bookkeeping Services

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_GDP
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_South_Carolina
• https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/economic-profiles/south-carolina/
• https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/2024-sales-taxes/
• https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-corporate-income-tax-rates-brackets-2024/
• https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates-2024/
• https://advocacy.sba.gov/2023/11/14/2023-small-business-profiles-for-the-states-territories-and-nation/
• https://advocacy.sba.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2023-Small-Business-Economic-Profile-SC.pdf
• https://www.bls.gov/eag/
• https://www.bls.gov/regions/southeast/south_carolina.htm#eag
• https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/SC,US/PST045223
• https://www.50pros.com/fortune500