Columbia and the Midlands: business and population figures

The seven Midlands counties had 19,636 business establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 327,025 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's County Business Patterns (CBP). Of those, 12,729 were in the service sectors we track (information, finance and insurance, real estate, professional services, administrative support, education, health care, arts and recreation, hospitality and food, and personal and repair services). They employed 190,789 people.

With 909,396 residents in July 2024, the region has 14.0 service establishments per 1,000 people, almost exactly the statewide figure of 14.1. The Midlands holds 16.6% of South Carolina's population, 16.5% of its county-assigned service businesses and 18.5% of its service employment. The higher employment share reflects larger employers: Richland County's service businesses average 17.5 employees each, against 15.8 statewide.

Richland County alone has 6,667 service establishments and 116,452 service employees. Lexington County adds 4,506 establishments and 59,206 employees. Together they hold 88% of the region's service businesses.

The Midlands grew 4.9% from April 2020 to July 2024, adding 42,204 residents, according to the Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 estimates. That is slower than the state's 7.0% and faster than the U.S. rate of 2.6%.

Growth is uneven inside the region. Kershaw County grew fastest at 9.6%, and Lexington County added the most people (19,862, up 6.8%). Richland County grew 3.5%, adding 14,505. Fairfield County lost 2.7% of its population, and Calhoun County was nearly flat.

Among cities, Columbia grew 5.8% to 144,788, adding 7,983 residents, the fifth-largest numeric gain of any South Carolina city. Blythewood, north of Columbia, grew 41.5% to 6,733, and Camden grew 14.3% to 8,899.

By number of establishments, the region's three largest service sectors are personal and repair services (2,201), health care and social assistance (2,189) and professional, scientific and technical services (2,160). Accommodation and food services (1,837) and finance and insurance (1,305) follow.

By employment the order changes. Health care employs 54,864 people, the most of any service sector, followed by accommodation and food services (38,449) and administrative and support services (26,616).

Compared with the state, the Midlands has a larger share of its service businesses in health care (17.2% against 16.4%), professional services (17.0% against 16.1%) and finance and insurance (10.3% against 9.6%). It has a smaller share in hospitality and food (14.4% against 15.8%) and real estate (8.4% against 10.0%), consistent with a region that depends less on tourism than the coast does.

The two core counties have different business mixes. Richland County's largest service sector by establishment count is professional, scientific and technical services (1,258), followed by health care (1,166) and personal and repair services (1,013). Inside professional services, law offices are the largest group (421 establishments), followed by management consulting (194), accounting and tax (163), engineering and architecture (143) and computer services (128). Richland has more than three times as many law offices as Lexington County (130), which fits Columbia's role as the state capital.

Lexington County leads with personal and repair services (820), followed by health care (766) and professional services (703). Its business base looks like a growing suburban county. Lexington has more auto repair shops than Richland (184 against 150) despite having about 117,000 fewer residents, along with 133 personal care businesses such as salons and barbershops, 162 physician offices and 129 dental offices. Insurance agencies are also common, with 181 in Lexington against 227 in Richland.

Richland has more service businesses per resident (15.5 per 1,000 against 14.4) and higher payroll per service employee ($51,567 against $45,085). Lexington is growing almost twice as fast in percentage terms.

The five outer counties form a third, thinner market. Kershaw, Newberry, Fairfield, Saluda and Calhoun counties together have 164,971 residents and 1,556 service businesses, or 9.4 per 1,000 residents, about two-thirds of the regional rate. Businesses based in Richland and Lexington can reach these counties within a regional service area, and the Census data shows how much thinner local supply is there. For a business willing to travel, these counties offer customers with fewer local options.

Midlands businesses are slightly larger than the state average. Across all industries, 70.9% of the region's establishments have fewer than 10 employees, against 72.2% statewide. For service businesses with a published size class, 72.9% have fewer than 10 employees and 14.4% have 20 or more.

Smaller counties are more small-business-heavy: 80.8% of Fairfield County's establishments and 78.5% of Saluda County's have fewer than 10 employees, against 69.3% in Richland.

Annual payroll per service employee is $48,436 in the Midlands, against $49,489 statewide. Pay is above the state level in health care ($61,176 against $57,455) and below it in professional services ($77,985 against $82,054), finance and insurance ($70,915 against $80,259) and hospitality and food ($19,606 against $22,867). These are payroll-per-head figures that include part-time staff.

The Midlands is a steady market: growth is moderate, service supply per resident matches the state, and a large health care and professional base supports stable demand. Competition is densest in Richland County, so businesses there compete on response speed, reviews and repeat business. Growth is strongest in Lexington and Kershaw counties and around Blythewood, where new residents are still choosing their providers.

Monvell Solutions is based in Columbia and works with service businesses across the Midlands and beyond. We use these same Census datasets in the Diagnose stage of an engagement to size a market, set realistic targets and decide which towns deserve their own location page or ad budget.

• Richland County: 15.5 service businesses per 1,000 residents, the densest in the region.
• Lexington County: 19,862 new residents from 2020 to 2024, the most in the region.
• Kershaw County: 9.6% growth with 9.6 service businesses per 1,000, below the state rate.

Datasets: U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023, county file (cbp23co.txt); Population Estimates Vintage 2024 county file (co-est2024-alldata.csv) and subcounty file (sub-est2024.csv). The Midlands here means Richland, Lexington, Kershaw, Fairfield, Calhoun, Saluda and Newberry counties.

Method: for each county we took all-industry totals (NAICS ------) and the ten service sectors (NAICS 51, 52, 53, 54, 56, 61, 62, 71, 72, 81), summing establishments, March employment, annual payroll and size-class counts. Sub-sector detail for Richland and Lexington uses 4-digit NAICS codes (5411 to 5418, 6211 to 6213, 5242, 8111 and 8121). Payroll per employee is annual payroll times 1,000 divided by employment. Sector shares compare the Midlands with all county-assigned South Carolina establishments; state totals in the county table include establishments CBP lists as statewide. Population growth is the July 1, 2024 estimate over the April 1, 2020 base, minus one. City figures use incorporated-place totals (summary level 162), so Columbia and Irmo include their parts in both Richland and Lexington counties.

Limits: CBP covers employer establishments only and excludes most government employment, so the region's large public workforce (state government, the University of South Carolina and Fort Jackson) is largely outside these counts. Employment is noise-infused and counts full- and part-time staff in the March pay period. Population figures are Vintage 2024; Vintage 2025 has since been released and revises earlier years.