News tips or calendar info?
Send e-mail to: news@statehousereport.com

Phone: 843.670.3996

E-mail:
info@statehousereport.com

© 2007, Statehouse Report LLC.

South Carolina Statehouse Report is a subscriber-based weekly publication. Click here to learn about our subscriber agreement.

South Carolina statistics sources

On this page you can find sources and more statistics about South Carolina. Included are numbers from commentaries on Oct. 7, 2007, many of which are updated from a Nov. 13, 2005 commentary. Please note: Some of the links may become out of date as newspapers update their Web sites:

Health

• 1st in stroke. The state has the highest rate of stroke victims - 65.2 per 100,000 residents. (National Center for Health Statistics.)
  
  
• 3rd in diabetes. S.C. is tied with Tennessee for the third highest adult diabetes rate (9.4 percent). (Trust for America's Health.)
  
  
• 3rd highest in infant mortality. According to the KidsCount survey, the state went from the fourth worst to third worst in infant mortality rates.
  
  
• 4th in low birthweight babies. Conversely, it went from third worst to fourth worst in low birthweight babies, although the actual rate increased slightly. (KidsCount.)
  
  
• 5th worst place for kids. KidsCount ranks South Carolina as the 46th out of 50 in places for children to grow. Two years ago, it was 45th.
  
  
• 5th in adult obesity. South Carolina is tied with Tennessee in adult obesity with 27.8 percent of the population classified as obese. The state is seventh in the number of overweight children from 10 to 17 (18.9 percent), according to the Trust for America's Health.
  
  
• 6th in hypertension. Almost 30 percent of South Carolinians have hypertension, the sixth-highest rate in the country. (Trust for America's Health).
  
  
• 17th highest in child deaths. An improvement. Two years ago, the state had the seventh highest rate of child deaths (KidsCount.)
  
  
• 18th in no health insurance. Almost 16 percent of South Carolinians don't have health insurance, slightly higher than the national average, according to the National Coalition on Health Care.

Education

• 49th in SAT. The state's SAT ranking remained 49th in 2007 compared to two years ago. While the actual average score fell slightly in South Carolina, many educators point out that the SAT ranking isn't an accurate measure of success because some states don't require most of their students to take it, which skews results. They say the National Assessment of Education Standards, which shows S.C. students performing more in the lower middle of the country's scores, is a more accurate gauge.

Other numbers

• 50th in high school graduation rate. Manhattan Institute.
  See The Post and Courier, 2/16/05: "South Carolina has long lingered near the bottom in many national rankings of public education. But none offers a more worrying indicator of the state's future than our low standing in high school graduation rates-- now last among all 50 states, according to a new report by the Manhattan Institute."
  
  
• 7th in high college tuition. The state dropped from first in the nation in high college tuition in 2005 to seventh in 2007. SC Indicators Project.

Economics, money

• 5th highest in unemployment. The state ranked fifth nationally in unemployment in South Carolina in August 2007, compared to fourth highest two years ago. But the rate has dropped from 6.6 percent to 5.6 percent, which is a vast improvement. Source: SC Employment Security Commission.
  
  
• 10th highest in food stamps. Some 12.4 percent of South Carolinians - - a 3.2 point increase from five years ago - - are on food stamps, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
  
  

• Source: USDA.

  15th in poverty rate. Census figures show some 13.7 percent of South Carolinians live in poverty, a slight dip from two years ago. But some 22 percent of the state's children live in poverty, according to KidsCount - - the 10th highest rate in the country (which is better than the 7th worst ranking two years ago).
  
  
• 49th in per capita growth. The state's per capita economic growth was second-lowest in the nation over the past three years, according to the US Bureau of Economic Research.

Other numbers

• 50th in job growth. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
  Also see The Greenville News, 10/7/05.
  
  
• 45th in computers. U.S. Department of Commerce.
  See The State, 6/20/05: "The October 2003 survey, released last year by the branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce, said: South Carolina ranked 45th among states in the percentage of households with computers."
  
  
• 49th in campaign disclosure. Campaign Disclosure Project.
  See The State, 11/3/05.
  
  
• 45th in country in per capita income. At $29,511, South Carolina's per capita income is lower than the Southeastern and U.S. averages. SC Indicators Project.
  
  
• 10th in personal income growth. The Palmetto State ranked 10th in the nation in personal income growth in the first quarter of the year with an increase of 2.1% from January through March, according to a June 22 story in The Greenville News.
  

Crime

• 1st in violent crime. Two years ago, the state was second in violent crime; now it is first, according to the FBI.
  
  
• 7th in domestic violence. The state used to be sixth worst in the number of women killed by men. Now it's seventh, the Violence Policy Center said.
  
  
• 49th in police training. A recent USC study highlighted that the state requires the second lowest amount of hours (349) for training police officers.

Other numbers

• 50th in inmate funding. S.C. Corrections Department Director Jon Ozmint. See The Greenville News, 4/15/2005: "During the past five years, our Legislature has cut funding for Corrections lower than any other state's. While South Carolina ranks 19th in the nation in spending per child on education, we rank 50th in funding per inmate."
  
  
• 8th highest incarceration rate. IN 2005, the rate was 525 per 100,000 population, lower than the 551 per 100,000 two years earlier. SC Indicators Project.
  
  
• 2nd in mortgage fraud. Mortgage Asset Research Institute.
  See Hilton Head Island Packet, 8/12/05: "A healthy property market and lack of legislation has led South Carolina to a second in the nation ranking in mortgage fraud, according to a recent Mortgage Asset Research Institute report."
  
  
• First in speeding deaths. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and U.S. Transportation
  Department. See Hilton Head Island Packet, 7/5/2005 "A recent federal study shows that South Carolina has a higher rate of speed-related deaths than any other state. The ranking has changed slightly in the past seven years, but this isn't new information for the nation or South Carolinians."
  
  
• 4th in fire deaths. U.S. Fire Administration.