COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Rapid growth in Charleston means that Columbia is in danger of losing its place as the largest city in South Carolina, according to U.S. Census Bureau numbers released Thursday.
The newly released population estimates include cities around the nation as of July 1 of last year.
Those numbers show that Columbia now has only about 2,000 more residents than Charleston. Between the 2010 census and last year, Charleston has grown by more than 10,000 people. In that same timeframe, Columbia has gained only about 2,000 residents.
In total, Charleston now has about 130,000 residents, compared with 132,000 for the state capital. North Charleston is still the third-largest city in the state, with about 107,000 residents. The town of Smyrna, in Cherokee and York counties, registered as the state’s smallest municipality, with 45 residents.
The increases are part of an overall uptick in South Carolina’s population. Numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau in March 2014 show that the state’s northeast coast is among the fastest growing areas in the United States.
According to those figures, the state’s population is approaching 4.8 million people, an increase from just over 4.6 million in the 2010 census. Those numbers show that a large part of the increase is a result of people moving to the state.
The Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach metropolitan area, which now includes Brunswick County in North Carolina, was the 7th-fastest growing metropolitan area in the nation with the population increasing 2.7 percent between July 1 of 2012 and July 1 of 2013.
___
Bruce Smith contributed from Charleston. Kinnard can be reached at https://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP
Please read our comment policy before commenting.