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Zippia has announced its most successful cities in South Carolina for 2019.
Each year, Zippia, the career expert site, ranks the most successful cities in each state, based on a variety of factors. These reports have been cited and referenced by leading news publications such as CNN, USA Today and Forbes.
This year’s list had a few repeats from last year’s list, but as local economies change, so do the cities.
We choose criteria that are indicative of a successful place — residents with lots of education, high earnings, and jobs.
With that in mind, here are the 10 most successful cities in South Carolina for 2019:
- Five Forks
- Mount Pleasant
- James Island
- Forest Acres
- Bluffton
- Hilton Head Island
- Lexington
- Charleston
- Fort Mill
- Lake Wylie
And the 10 most successful towns in South Carolina:
- Tega Cay
- Boiling Springs
- Powdersville
- Lake Murray Of Richland
- Hollywood
- Hardeeville
- Little River
- Camden
- Lugoff
- Murrells Inlet
How We Determined The Most Successful Cities In South Carolina
We looked at this set of criteria from the 2012-2017 American Community Survey:
- Median Household Income
- Unemployment Rate
- Percent of adults with at least a college degree
Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how wealthy a place really is. The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for more people to become successful. And finally, if people are highly educated, the brighter (and more successful) that place’s future looks.
We broke down the data into two cohorts — cities over 10,000 people and towns under 10,000 people (but above 5,000).
That left 52 cities and 45 towns.
We then ranked each place across a each criteria from best to worst.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Success Score” with the place having the lowest overall Success Score crowned the “Most Successful City in South Carolina.”
So without further ado, let’s get into just what made each of our top 20 cities so successful, starting with our winner, Five Forks, SC.
The 10 Most Successful Cities In South Carolina
1. Five Forks
Population: 17,500
Median Household Income: $109,781
Highly Educated Adults: 61.6%
2. Mount Pleasant
Population: 80,661
Median Household Income: $90,454
Highly Educated Adults: 60.5%
3. James Island
Population: 11,908
Median Household Income: $75,345
Highly Educated Adults: 44.9%
4. Forest Acres
Population: 10,466
Median Household Income: $62,008
Highly Educated Adults: 58.0%
5. Bluffton
Population: 17,164
Median Household Income: $70,222
Highly Educated Adults: 42.8%
6. Hilton Head Island
Population: 39,666
Median Household Income: $72,569
Highly Educated Adults: 52.0%
7. Lexington
Population: 20,653
Median Household Income: $65,019
Highly Educated Adults: 41.9%
8. Charleston
Population: 131,204
Median Household Income: $61,367
Highly Educated Adults: 51.4%
9. Fort Mill
Population: 14,451
Median Household Income: $71,436
Highly Educated Adults: 41.1%
10. Lake Wylie
Population: 12,170
Median Household Income: $77,175
Highly Educated Adults: 50.9%
The 10 Most Successful Towns In South Carolina
1. Tega Cay
Population: 9,464
Median Household Income: $121,623
Highly Educated Adults: 54.7%
2. Boiling Springs
Population: 9,152
Median Household Income: $54,440
Highly Educated Adults: 33.3%
3. Powdersville
Population: 9,216
Median Household Income: $60,694
Highly Educated Adults: 33.0%
4. Lake Murray Of Richland
Population: 6,402
Median Household Income: $100,938
Highly Educated Adults: 53.7%
5. Hollywood
Population: 5,083
Median Household Income: $51,784
Highly Educated Adults: 28.1%
6. Hardeeville
Population: 5,084
Median Household Income: $52,705
Highly Educated Adults: 37.0%
7. Little River
Population: 9,208
Median Household Income: $47,866
Highly Educated Adults: 25.3%
8. Camden
Population: 7,000
Median Household Income: $43,838
Highly Educated Adults: 35.6%
9. Lugoff
Population: 8,152
Median Household Income: $56,667
Highly Educated Adults: 24.9%
10. Murrells Inlet
Population: 8,752
Median Household Income: $51,667
Highly Educated Adults: 30.0%
Measuring Success In South Carolina
If you’re still looking at this post thinking, “Surely, such superficial methods can’t possibly measure a city, or rather, the individuals that make up that city’s success!”” well, you’re probably right.
But we like to measure things, and when it comes to success, we feel pretty successful in our approach. Congrats to Five Forks and our winners. And for those who didn’t make the cut, well, better luck next year.
Detailed List Of The Most Successful Cities In South Carolina
| Rank | City | Median Income |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Five Forks | $109,781 |
| 2 | Mount Pleasant | $90,454 |
| 3 | James Island | $75,345 |
| 4 | Forest Acres | $62,008 |
| 5 | Bluffton | $70,222 |
| 6 | Hilton Head Island | $72,569 |
| 7 | Lexington | $65,019 |
| 8 | Charleston | $61,367 |
| 9 | Fort Mill | $71,436 |
| 10 | Lake Wylie | $77,175 |
| 11 | Simpsonville | $58,857 |
| 12 | Hanahan | $61,221 |
| 13 | Greer | $51,913 |
| 14 | Aiken | $53,433 |
| 15 | Wade Hampton | $49,605 |
| 16 | Mauldin | $65,539 |
| 17 | Seven Oaks | $53,577 |
| 18 | Greenville | $48,984 |
| 19 | Clemson | $39,746 |
| 20 | Taylors | $53,666 |
| 21 | North Myrtle Beach | $54,283 |
| 22 | Irmo | $59,470 |
| 23 | Beaufort | $47,452 |
| 24 | Summerville | $57,825 |
| 25 | Goose Creek | $64,204 |
| 26 | Cayce | $46,383 |
| 27 | North Augusta | $51,863 |
| 28 | West Columbia | $42,045 |
| 29 | Columbia | $43,650 |
| 30 | Florence | $47,008 |
| 31 | Easley | $47,280 |
| 32 | Port Royal | $46,475 |
| 33 | Rock Hill | $44,296 |
| 34 | Red Hill | $47,049 |
| 35 | Socastee | $42,966 |
| 36 | Ladson | $59,243 |
| 37 | North Charleston | $39,944 |
| 38 | Oak Grove | $48,872 |
| 39 | Spartanburg | $37,369 |
| 40 | Dentsville | $38,840 |
| 41 | Myrtle Beach | $39,006 |
| 42 | Sumter | $38,562 |
| 43 | Anderson | $32,655 |
| 44 | St. Andrews | $36,478 |
| 45 | Conway | $37,362 |
| 46 | Gaffney | $30,058 |
| 47 | Parker | $31,295 |
| 48 | Orangeburg | $27,564 |
| 49 | Newberry | $35,645 |
| 50 | Greenwood | $30,273 |
| 51 | Berea | $32,389 |
| 52 | Gantt | $32,374 |
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
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