The combination of inflation and increased work-from-home opportunities brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted migration patterns across the United States, the effects of which are still being felt in 2024, according to the latest Census Bureau data.
In the first year of the pandemic, migration out of densely populated, expensive cities like New York and San Francisco was especially notable. Many moved to Sun Belt states where the weather is warmer and the cost of living significantly lower.
But by the second year of the pandemic, it became clear that not everyone who was moving wanted to go far. A 2022 analysis of movement out of crowded cities from Stateline showed that many people leaving city centers moved to nearby suburbs in the same state. In Texas, for example, moves out of Houston rose 62% in the first month of the pandemic; meanwhile, the western suburb of Katy saw more new residents move in than any other part of the country.
According to the latest data from the Census Bureau, released in September 2023, 53.5% of people who moved in 2022 did so within the same county and an additional 24.3% remained in state, meaning more than three-quarters of movers stuck close to home.
Many young people in particular are remaining in the state, town, or even house that they grew up in. Before the pandemic, the number of younger adults living with their parents was on the rise and those patterns have continued. A late 2023 survey released by Lending Tree found that 57% of millennials and Gen Zers live in their hometowns.
Many people choose not to leave the state they were raised in for reasons ranging from wanting to be close to family, to not having the resources to leave, to sticking with a lower cost of living.
In order to determine where people stay put in your home state, Stacker compiled a list of counties with the most born-and-bred residents in South Carolina using data from the Census Bureau. Counties are ranked by the highest percentage of residents who were born in the state according to the latest data, which is 2022 five-year estimates. The percentage of residents who were born in another state, a U.S. territory, and another country is also included.
Read on to find out where the most loyal South Carolina residents live.
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#46. Beaufort County
- Population: 189,071
- Born in South Carolina: 54,504 (28.8% of population)
- Born in a different state: 116,826 (61.8% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 3,582 (1.9% of population)
- Born in another country: 14,159 (7.5% of population)
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#45. York County
- Population: 282,987
- Born in South Carolina: 97,924 (34.6% of population)
- Born in a different state: 165,478 (58.5% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 3,293 (1.2% of population)
- Born in another country: 16,292 (5.8% of population)
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#44. Horry County
- Population: 356,578
- Born in South Carolina: 123,815 (34.7% of population)
- Born in a different state: 206,393 (57.9% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 3,363 (0.9% of population)
- Born in another country: 23,007 (6.5% of population)
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#43. Aiken County
- Population: 169,865
- Born in South Carolina: 65,185 (38.4% of population)
- Born in a different state: 96,444 (56.8% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 2,225 (1.3% of population)
- Born in another country: 6,011 (3.5% of population)
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#42. Edgefield County
- Population: 26,181
- Born in South Carolina: 11,426 (43.6% of population)
- Born in a different state: 13,217 (50.5% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 241 (0.9% of population)
- Born in another country: 1,297 (5.0% of population)
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#41. Lancaster County
- Population: 97,611
- Born in South Carolina: 43,544 (44.6% of population)
- Born in a different state: 46,982 (48.1% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 1,233 (1.3% of population)
- Born in another country: 5,852 (6.0% of population)
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#40. Jasper County
- Population: 29,444
- Born in South Carolina: 13,706 (46.5% of population)
- Born in a different state: 12,493 (42.4% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 328 (1.1% of population)
- Born in another country: 2,917 (9.9% of population)
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#39. Charleston County
- Population: 409,840
- Born in South Carolina: 191,652 (46.8% of population)
- Born in a different state: 188,672 (46.0% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 5,643 (1.4% of population)
- Born in another country: 23,873 (5.8% of population)
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#38. Dorchester County
- Population: 162,139
- Born in South Carolina: 76,569 (47.2% of population)
- Born in a different state: 74,279 (45.8% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 2,494 (1.5% of population)
- Born in another country: 8,797 (5.4% of population)
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#37. Berkeley County
- Population: 231,419
- Born in South Carolina: 113,807 (49.2% of population)
- Born in a different state: 100,775 (43.5% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 4,225 (1.8% of population)
- Born in another country: 12,612 (5.4% of population)
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#36. Greenville County
- Population: 528,251
- Born in South Carolina: 266,289 (50.4% of population)
- Born in a different state: 209,833 (39.7% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 6,991 (1.3% of population)
- Born in another country: 45,138 (8.5% of population)
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#35. Richland County
- Population: 416,161
- Born in South Carolina: 228,847 (55.0% of population)
- Born in a different state: 154,252 (37.1% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 8,781 (2.1% of population)
- Born in another country: 24,281 (5.8% of population)
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#34. Oconee County
- Population: 78,775
- Born in South Carolina: 44,237 (56.2% of population)
- Born in a different state: 31,265 (39.7% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 411 (0.5% of population)
- Born in another country: 2,862 (3.6% of population)
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#33. McCormick County
- Population: 9,612
- Born in South Carolina: 5,467 (56.9% of population)
- Born in a different state: 3,942 (41.0% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 73 (0.8% of population)
- Born in another country: 130 (1.4% of population)
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#32. Lexington County
- Population: 295,934
- Born in South Carolina: 171,602 (58.0% of population)
- Born in a different state: 104,590 (35.3% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 3,938 (1.3% of population)
- Born in another country: 15,804 (5.3% of population)
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#31. Georgetown County
- Population: 63,594
- Born in South Carolina: 37,175 (58.5% of population)
- Born in a different state: 24,097 (37.9% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 372 (0.6% of population)
- Born in another country: 1,950 (3.1% of population)
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#30. Spartanburg County
- Population: 330,119
- Born in South Carolina: 199,388 (60.4% of population)
- Born in a different state: 103,241 (31.3% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 3,473 (1.1% of population)
- Born in another country: 24,017 (7.3% of population)
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#29. Pickens County
- Population: 131,106
- Born in South Carolina: 79,814 (60.9% of population)
- Born in a different state: 45,891 (35.0% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 821 (0.6% of population)
- Born in another country: 4,580 (3.5% of population)
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#28. Chesterfield County
- Population: 43,536
- Born in South Carolina: 27,100 (62.2% of population)
- Born in a different state: 14,906 (34.2% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 225 (0.5% of population)
- Born in another country: 1,305 (3.0% of population)
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#27. Kershaw County
- Population: 65,779
- Born in South Carolina: 41,190 (62.6% of population)
- Born in a different state: 21,719 (33.0% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 986 (1.5% of population)
- Born in another country: 1,884 (2.9% of population)
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#26. Sumter County
- Population: 105,199
- Born in South Carolina: 67,731 (64.4% of population)
- Born in a different state: 33,116 (31.5% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 1,421 (1.4% of population)
- Born in another country: 2,931 (2.8% of population)
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#25. Anderson County
- Population: 204,592
- Born in South Carolina: 133,313 (65.2% of population)
- Born in a different state: 62,538 (30.6% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 1,472 (0.7% of population)
- Born in another country: 7,269 (3.6% of population)
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#24. Cherokee County
- Population: 56,200
- Born in South Carolina: 38,360 (68.3% of population)
- Born in a different state: 16,113 (28.7% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 286 (0.5% of population)
- Born in another country: 1,441 (2.6% of population)
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#23. Barnwell County
- Population: 20,653
- Born in South Carolina: 14,172 (68.6% of population)
- Born in a different state: 5,866 (28.4% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 94 (0.5% of population)
- Born in another country: 521 (2.5% of population)
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#22. Marlboro County
- Population: 26,585
- Born in South Carolina: 18,432 (69.3% of population)
- Born in a different state: 7,353 (27.7% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 261 (1.0% of population)
- Born in another country: 539 (2.0% of population)
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#21. Saluda County
- Population: 18,952
- Born in South Carolina: 13,509 (71.3% of population)
- Born in a different state: 3,844 (20.3% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 269 (1.4% of population)
- Born in another country: 1,330 (7.0% of population)
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#20. Clarendon County
- Population: 31,163
- Born in South Carolina: 22,440 (72.0% of population)
- Born in a different state: 7,913 (25.4% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 235 (0.8% of population)
- Born in another country: 575 (1.8% of population)
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#19. Abbeville County
- Population: 24,368
- Born in South Carolina: 17,822 (73.1% of population)
- Born in a different state: 5,849 (24.0% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 61 (0.3% of population)
- Born in another country: 636 (2.6% of population)
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#18. Laurens County
- Population: 67,456
- Born in South Carolina: 49,350 (73.2% of population)
- Born in a different state: 15,247 (22.6% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 578 (0.9% of population)
- Born in another country: 2,281 (3.4% of population)
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#17. Greenwood County
- Population: 69,309
- Born in South Carolina: 50,814 (73.3% of population)
- Born in a different state: 16,151 (23.3% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 222 (0.3% of population)
- Born in another country: 2,122 (3.1% of population)
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#16. Newberry County
- Population: 37,918
- Born in South Carolina: 28,006 (73.9% of population)
- Born in a different state: 7,285 (19.2% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 712 (1.9% of population)
- Born in another country: 1,915 (5.1% of population)
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#15. Colleton County
- Population: 38,561
- Born in South Carolina: 28,507 (73.9% of population)
- Born in a different state: 8,693 (22.5% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 283 (0.7% of population)
- Born in another country: 1,078 (2.8% of population)
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#14. Chester County
- Population: 32,171
- Born in South Carolina: 24,114 (75.0% of population)
- Born in a different state: 7,516 (23.4% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 113 (0.4% of population)
- Born in another country: 428 (1.3% of population)
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#13. Bamberg County
- Population: 13,311
- Born in South Carolina: 10,040 (75.4% of population)
- Born in a different state: 2,694 (20.2% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 69 (0.5% of population)
- Born in another country: 508 (3.8% of population)
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#12. Florence County
- Population: 137,015
- Born in South Carolina: 103,804 (75.8% of population)
- Born in a different state: 28,807 (21.0% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 810 (0.6% of population)
- Born in another country: 3,594 (2.6% of population)
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#11. Lee County
- Population: 16,557
- Born in South Carolina: 12,852 (77.6% of population)
- Born in a different state: 3,276 (19.8% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 68 (0.4% of population)
- Born in another country: 361 (2.2% of population)
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#10. Fairfield County
- Population: 20,942
- Born in South Carolina: 16,504 (78.8% of population)
- Born in a different state: 4,111 (19.6% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 120 (0.6% of population)
- Born in another country: 207 (1.0% of population)
Jared Freye // Shutterstock
#9. Darlington County
- Population: 63,025
- Born in South Carolina: 49,769 (79.0% of population)
- Born in a different state: 11,735 (18.6% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 295 (0.5% of population)
- Born in another country: 1,226 (1.9% of population)
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#8. Calhoun County
- Population: 14,145
- Born in South Carolina: 11,183 (79.1% of population)
- Born in a different state: 2,543 (18.0% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 128 (0.9% of population)
- Born in another country: 291 (2.1% of population)
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#7. Hampton County
- Population: 18,890
- Born in South Carolina: 15,082 (79.8% of population)
- Born in a different state: 3,020 (16.0% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 97 (0.5% of population)
- Born in another country: 691 (3.7% of population)
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#6. Allendale County
- Population: 8,073
- Born in South Carolina: 6,474 (80.2% of population)
- Born in a different state: 1,440 (17.8% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 79 (1.0% of population)
- Born in another country: 80 (1.0% of population)
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#5. Orangeburg County
- Population: 84,159
- Born in South Carolina: 67,927 (80.7% of population)
- Born in a different state: 14,608 (17.4% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 480 (0.6% of population)
- Born in another country: 1,144 (1.4% of population)
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#4. Williamsburg County
- Population: 30,879
- Born in South Carolina: 25,062 (81.2% of population)
- Born in a different state: 4,590 (14.9% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 225 (0.7% of population)
- Born in another country: 1,002 (3.2% of population)
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#3. Marion County
- Population: 29,212
- Born in South Carolina: 23,754 (81.3% of population)
- Born in a different state: 4,964 (17.0% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 12 (0.0% of population)
- Born in another country: 482 (1.7% of population)
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#2. Union County
- Population: 27,158
- Born in South Carolina: 22,094 (81.4% of population)
- Born in a different state: 4,575 (16.8% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 162 (0.6% of population)
- Born in another country: 327 (1.2% of population)
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#1. Dillon County
- Population: 28,255
- Born in South Carolina: 23,198 (82.1% of population)
- Born in a different state: 4,536 (16.1% of population)
- Born in U.S. territories: 98 (0.3% of population)
- Born in another country: 423 (1.5% of population)
This story features data reporting by Karim Noorani and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 49 states.