U.S. Census Bureau reports Upstate midsize cities grew faster than larger ones

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]Well, newly released data from the US Census Bureau shows some interesting information. It says the population growth in larger cities was slower than mid-size ones. Yeah, things are changing a little bit. Cities in the South grew faster in 2025 than any other region in the country. Our Ripley Simone breaks down what all of these numbers mean for us right here in the Upstate.

[00:00:23]Experts say the US population growth is slowing, but here in South Carolina, they say suburbs and mid-size cities continued growing at the same pace as before. We do expect continued growing and primarily through migration into the state as opposed to natural change, which is more births than deaths. The US Census Bureau looked at data from 2024 to 2025. And when you compare the growth of large cities versus mid-size cities, mid-size areas grew more. A hundred people moving into Greenville is not going to make a dent, but a hundred people moving into a smaller town on the outskirts of Greenville might make a a pretty significant change in their population. The Census considers a large city to be a place with a population of 20,000 or more people, like Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson, all of which saw very slight growth from half a percent to 0.8%. On the other hand, growth in some small Upstate cities surged. Inman grew 2.7%, Fountain Inn 6.5%, and the Upstate leader is the city of Woodruff with a staggering 16.8% growth in population. When we saw that come out, we thought it's exciting to see what we've been feeling here in Woodruff for quite some time, about 6 years now, preparing for this growth.

[00:01:44]Mary Margaret Bowen with the city of Woodruff says the increase in industrial business, outdoor amenities, and recreation has proved to be a strong strategy for attracting more people to the city. I think since Woodruff offers that small town feel, that is what some people are looking for instead of having to to go to Greenville, having to go to Simpsonville, and it is crowded.

[00:02:04]>> Experts like Daniel Tompkins are already working to learn what South Carolina's population will look like in another 5 years. But one thing they do know, growth is still coming. Either you're growing or shrinking from um natural change, so more births than deaths or more deaths than births, or you're growing from net migration, so more people moving in than out or vice versa.

[00:02:26]Um and we are overwhelmingly growing due to net migration. In Spartanburg County, Ripley Simone, 7 News.

[00:02:35]The US Census Bureau says Greer is the 17th fastest-growing city in the US. To look at the census data, if you want to look at all the numbers yourself, head to wspa.com.