2020 census

New Census data shows South Carolinians are gravitating toward the state's coastline and the suburbs south of Charlotte, North Carolina. Those are the spots with the most population growth between 2010 and 2020. The detailed Census figures were released Thursday. THey show that the state has added nearly 500,000 people in the last decade, becoming the 23rd most populous state with 5.1 million residents. Greenville County still has the most people in South Carolina, while rural Allendale lost the biggest share of residents and is now the state's smallest county. State lawmakers have been waiting the data to redraw congressional and legislative districts.

South Carolina's rapid growth isn't happening in rural areas, and people who live outside places like Greenville, Myrtle Beach and the suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina, are worried this year's redistricting is going to take away more of their dwindling power.

A South Carolina Senate leader says he hopes the process to draw new districts for state House and Senate seats as well as the U.S. House will take less than four months. Sen. Luke Rankin led the first meeting Tuesday of the Senate's redistricting subcommittee. The group agreed to hold 10 public hearings across the state starting next week and ending before the final U.S. census data on where the 5.1 million people in South Carolina live is released Aug. 16.

South Carolina's population grew by double-digit percentage points for the fifth decade in a row, but that wasn't enough for the state to add another U.S. House seat, according to U.S. census data for 2020 released Monday.

The Census. We've been doing it every 10 years since 1790 – in part because it's in the Constitution and in part because it's really, really important to…