REGIONAL OVERVIEW Demographics

Population Growth, 2011-2021

Growth across the region far outpaced the U.S. Berkeley County led the way, growing 343% faster than the U.S. This is due to the large tracts of less expensive and available land to develop and the lower housing prices found further from Charleston’s city center.

Race Distribution, All Ages, 2021

Diversity is a strength of the region with 35.71% of the residents being a racial minority. The One Region Roadmap has identified “Equity” as one of the regional dynamics that must be focused on to ensure all residents have equitable access to high-quality education, jobs and housing.

The region is growing significantly faster than the U.S. in many metrics including: population, employment, housing prices and GDP growth. This has affected everything from affordability and talent retention to infrastructure capacity and equity. The data that follows shows the successes, the challenges and resiliency of the region.

Population by Age, 2021

The region has a young population with the largest sector being 25 to 44 years of age. This is a competitive advantage for business and talent recruitment, retainment and development.

10.4% 65 to 74

12.8% 55 to 64

5.8% 75+

5.3% Under 5 16.3%

38.3 Median age

11.7% 45 to 54 to 17 8.7% 18 to 24 29.0% 25 to 44

2.58% Other

Language Spoken at Home for Ages 5 and Over, 2021

21.6% of the population 5 and over speak another language than English at home in the U.S. This percentage is almost three times larger than found in the region. The region’s percentage has decreased from 7.6% since 2011.

7.3%

Percentage of the region’s population who speaks a language other than English

0.3% Other

1.2% Asian and Pacific Islander

1.5% Other Indo-European languages

4.3% Spanish