Once a hidden gem, the Upstate region has seen a steady population increase over the last 80 years as more people have discovered the charm, beauty and spirit of the Upstate.

In 1930, 545,974 people called the Upstate home. The region reached 800,000 residents in 1970 and eclipsed the one million mark in the 1990 census. In the last two decades, the region has added more than 300,000 new residents for a population of 1,362,073 in the 2010 census.

If current projections are realized, by 2030 the region will have more than 1.6 million residents and one million jobs.

The recent growth has been from a combination of residents' growing families as well as people moving to the region from other parts of the country and world. The minority population in the Upstate has risen from 20% in 1990 to 28% in 2010. The fastest growing ethnic group in the region has been the Hispanic community with a 138% increase between 2000 and 2010, accounting for 5.5% of all residents in the region. African Americans are the largest ethnic minority in the region account for 17.5% of all Upstate residents.

Roughly 45% of all residents of the Upstate are either under the age of 20 or above the age of 60. This results in the need for a wide array of services in the areas of education and public health. It also puts pressure on the remaining 55% to provide the workforce needed to sustain job growth across the region.   

The Upstate consistently ranks as a desired place to live for a large majority of residents. In a recent survey of more than 6,000 Upstate residents, 75% called the region an "Excellent" or "Very Good" place to live with only 5% characterizing it as "Poor" or "Fair".

Population projections from the U.S. Census Bureau.