This South Carolina city ranks among the nation’s ‘top boomtowns.’ Here’s why

Simone Jasper
·2 min read

South Carolina is home to one of the “top boomtowns” in the United States, a new report finds.

Mount Pleasant ranks No. 5 on a list of the fastest-growing places in terms of population, jobs and salaries, according to results from the finance website SmartAsset.

The Charleston-area town made it into the rankings after the website said it used the most recent U.S. government data to study 500 of the biggest cities in the country. Then, each city was analyzed for growth in the following areas: population, economy, businesses, housing units, unemployment rates and household incomes.

Mount Pleasant earned a spot on the national list after boasting one of the fastest rates of growth in household incomes from 2014 to 2019. During that period, “the median household income grew by more than 47% — a rate that is roughly 25 percentage points higher than the national average,” SmartAsset said in a report published Nov. 3.

Also in the report, Mount Pleasant was one of the highest-scoring cities in the population category. SmartAsset said the town’s population rose 13.53% from 2015 to 2020.

The latest U.S. Census Bureau estimates show more than 90,000 people live in Mount Pleasant, making it the fourth-most populous place in South Carolina. That puts the town behind Charleston, Columbia and North Charleston when it comes to the number of residents, The State reported in August.

Mount Pleasant ranks among the nation’s top cities for growth.
Mount Pleasant ranks among the nation’s top cities for growth.

North Charleston, Rock Hill and and Charleston also made it into SmartAsset’s rankings, landing in the Nos. 11, 12 and 25 spots, respectively. There are no other Palmetto State destinations on the list, which shows results for the top 50 cities nationwide.

It’s not the first time a South Carolina town has been recognized as an up-and-coming destination.

In October 2020, Mount Pleasant ranked No. 9 on a list of places with rapidly growing economies. For that list, WalletHub evaluated seven years of U.S. demographic and economic trends, McClatchy News reported.

For the latest SmartAsset list, more than half of the top 10 cities were in the northwestern part of the country.

Bucking that trend to earn the highest spot on the list was Murfreesboro, Tennessee, roughly 35 miles southeast of Nashville. Rounding out the five best cities were Nampa, Idaho; Meridian, Idaho; and Conroe, Texas.