Tag Archives: income

South Carolina Health at a Glance: 2018 Live Healthy State Health Assessment Report Demographics

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The first and award-winning South Carolina State Health Assessment  was released in 2018 as a snapshot of South Carolina’s health indicators, issues, and potential outcomes.  Because the document is pretty lengthy (approximately 346 pages to be exact), we will tackle each section at a glance and summarize the most pertinent information.  Our first blog post introduced general information about the assessment, including contributors, definitions of indicators, issues, and possible outcomes, and why the assessment is important.

What is the demographic makeup of South Carolina?

South Carolina’s population is growing consistently.  The state population has increased from 4.6 million in 2010 to about 5 million in 2017, an increase of 8.6% compared to an overall 5.5% increase in the United States.  In 2016, there were 4,961,119 residents in South Carolina.  The five most populated counties in the state were:

  • Greenville (482,191)
  • Richland (401,743)
  • Charleston (380,673)
  • Horry (300,418)
  • Spartanburg (294,229)

Men made up 48.5% of the population, while women were 51.5%.

Why is South Carolina’s population increasing?

The state’s growth is attributable to three main drivers:

  • People within the country moving to South Carolina (67% increase)
  • More births to South Carolina residents (23% increase)
  • People outside of the United States moving to the state (10% increase)

Another factor can be attributed to the growing elderly community.  The proportion of South Carolinians who are over 65 years old increased from 13.7% in 2010 to 16.7% in 2017.

Race/Ethnicity Makeup of South Carolina

The three largest racial/ethnic groups in South Carolina in 2016 were non-Hispanic Whites (3.1 million), non-Hispanic Blacks (1.3 million) and Hispanic/Latino (272,791).  Of the Hispanic/Latino residents, 55.3% were of Mexican origin, 12% were from Puerto Rico, 5.2% from Guatemala, and 5.0% Honduras.

Marital Status

In 2016, nearly half of South Carolina residents – 15 years old and older, were married (46.2%); 32.7% of residents had never been married; 11.1% were divorced; 7.0% were widowed; and 3.0% were separated.  The median age of first marriage was 29.9 years for men and 28.4 years for women.

Education Factors

From 2002 to 2017, the percentage of South Carolina students who graduated from high school increased from 77.3% in 2002 to 84.6% in 2017.  In 2017, the South Carolina graduation rate was the highest it had been in 17 years.

In nationwide comparison, South Carolina fairs well in educational attainment among adults.  See below.

SC Education_SCHA Report

Income Levels

The median income for individuals varied based on the level of education obtained.  As the level of education increased so did the median earnings.  Individuals with a bachelor’s degree in South Carolina had median earnings of $46,083, compared to $51,676 for the United States.  Median household income for South Carolina in 2016 was $48,501, compared to $57,617 for the United States.

SC Income_SCHA Report

Approximately 735,960 individuals (15.3%) lived below the federal poverty level (FPL).  The 2018 FPL for individuals is $12,140 and for a family of four is $25,100.  More than one-third of South Carolinians lived under 200% of the FPL (35.4%).  This is higher than the percent of United States residents.

Housing

In 2016, 68.6% of homes in South Carolina were owner-occupied, while 31.4% were renter-occupied.  The median rent was $841.  The highest median rent was seen in Beaufort County at $1,170.  Most homeowners paid between $1,000-$1,499 or $500-$999 on monthly owner costs.  Selected monthly owner costs were calculated from the sum of payment for mortgages, real estate taxes, various insurances, utilities, fuels, mobile home costs, and condominium fees.  The median South Carolina homeowner spent $1,182 on selected monthly owner costs.

South Carolina is a diverse and growing population.  For more demographics, including disability status, languages spoken at home, and veteran status, view the full report.

From Other Blogs: Drinking water, safe summer meals, productive aging and work & more

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A collection of health and environmental posts from other governmental blogs.

Our Drinking Water and Forest Service Research

Behind every drop of water from the tap is an entire forest ecosystem. And while it’s easy to take drinking water for granted, you might be surprised to learn that the nation’s largest single source of water is the National Forest System, the network of national forests stewarded by the USDA Forest Service. Many of these national forest lands overlay the source areas for important rivers and aquifer systems, and more than 60 million Americans rely on them for drinking water.

Scientists from Forest Service Research and Development, or R&D, investigate the quality and quantity of water from forests and conduct research that informs water stewardship and reduces costs. For example, one R&D study showed that nearly 21 million people in the South receive their drinking water from national forest lands – roughly equivalent to the population of Florida! — From the US Department of Agriculture blog

FNS Provides Tools to Support Safe Summer Meals

As the school year ends across the country and summer approaches, summer meals are critical in the lives of millions of our nation’s youth, whose risk for food insecurity increases during the summer months when they no longer have access to the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs (NSLP).

Summer meal programs, including the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and the Seamless Summer Option within the NSLP, present the opportunity to help alleviate summertime food insecurity and positively impact children’s growth and development by offering nutritious meals and encouraging children to develop healthy habits at a young age. — From the USDA blog

A Framework for Productive Aging and Work

The aging of the U.S. population has led to a number of changes in the workforce, particularly a movement of the worker distribution toward older ages2, 4. By 2022, about one-third (31.9%) of Americans aged 65 to 74 years will still be working (Toosi 2013). The impact of a longer working life can be significant in both positive and negative ways. On the positive side, work is the main means of income for consumption and savings, serves an anchoring function in society, and can be a source of dignity, social connectedness, and purpose. Negative consequences of working longer may include increased morbidity and mortality from injuries, longer recovery times, burnout, job lock (needing to stay employed to retain health insurance and benefits), age discrimination, job insecurity, periods of unwanted unemployment, and less non-work time (Schulte et al. 2018). — From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) NIOSH Science blog

Consumer Genetic Testing Is Booming: But What are the Benefits and Harms to Individuals and Populations?

The first genetic tests directly available to consumers for health were offered in 1996. The concept, then, was both audacious and bold: the idea that individuals could explore their own human genome without the aid of a health care provider to order the test or interpret the results.

Some consumer advocates praised the development as empowering, while many medical and public health experts advised caution, given the lack of evidence that results were clinically useful and that the risk for potential harms was unknown. Meanwhile, the direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic health test industry grew relatively slowly during the first two decades of its existence. During that time, personal genomics for any purpose was often perceived as a mere curiosity purchased by only a few wealthy individuals. — From the CDC’s Genomics and Health Impact blog