South Carolina economy ranked #1 in the country

During quarter one of 2025 (Q1), South Carolina recorded significant growth for both GDP and personal income.South Carolina’s real GDP, which accounts for inflation, increased at an annualized rate of 1.7 percent, outpacing all other states and the District of Columbia. National GDP, in comparison, contracted in Q1, falling at an annualized rate of 0.5 percent. Across the Southeast, GDP activity was mixed. Six states other than SC recorded GDP growth, while five saw a decline, as shown in Figure 1 below.

In South Carolina, the real estate and rental and leasing sector was by far the largest contributor to GDP growth, accounting for 0.88 of the 1.7 percentage points total. The information sector contributed 0.38 points, and in third, the construction sector contributed 0.32 points.

Personal Income 

At an annualized rate of 9.1 percent, South Carolina ranked fourth in the country for personal income growth in Q1. The largest contributors by sector were construction (0.55 of the 9.1 percentage points total growth), administrative and support and waste management and remediation services (0.40), and finance and insurance (0.35). In the Southeast region only Mississippi, with growth of 9.9 percent, surpassed South Carolina. All states in the region recorded personal income growth for the quarter. In the U.S., personal income increased at an annualized rate of 6.7 percent. All of these results appear in Figure 2, ahead.