Reshaping S.C. politics: Detailed 2010 Census data is in (update: Beaufort getting older)

Update May 9: The Packet has an article in its newspaper today which analyzes the county's steady growth in age.

According to the census, more than 33% of Beaufort County citizens qualify for senior citizen discounts. Also, the number of people in the county who are 55 or older grew 76%, while the number of those over 84% grew 111%.

Check out that article here. 

Update March 24: The numbers are in, and Beaufort County exploded some 34.1% to make it the fourth fastest growing in the state.

However the 881% boom of Bluffton wasn't had in the City of Beaufort, it was the only municipality in the county to shrink, falling by some 4.6%. You can explore the numbers for yourself in the interactive graphic below.

For a thorough hashing of the numbers, I'll point you to The Island Packet; read their report here.

And for why all this matters, read the paragraphs below.

First Reported: Data to be released by the U.S. Census Bureau this week will be key in drawing and weighting the political power in South Carolina for the next decade.

While it's well-known that our state is due to get a 7th congressional district due to a 15.3% population explosion, the big change coming is just where that growth happened, and that will dictate which parts of the state gain (or lose) influence. 

You can watch for that data to be released over here and in the embedded graphic below. 

If you'd prefer a bit more context, check out David Slade's piece over at The Post and Courier or our past report on the debate (and upcoming meetings).

Filed in