Richland County, South Carolina

Richland County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 416,147, making it the second-most populous county in South Carolina, behind only Greenville County. The county seat and largest community is Columbia, the state capital. The county was established on March 12, 1785. Richland County is part of the Columbia, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 2020, the center of population of South Carolina was located in Richland County, in the city of Columbia. The county is also the location of the geographic center of South Carolina, southeast of Columbia.

History
Richland County was probably named for its "rich land". The county was formed in 1785 as part of the large Camden District. A small part of Richland County was later ceded to adjacent Kershaw County in 1791. The county seat and largest city is Columbia, which is also the state capital. In 1786, the state legislature decided to move the capital from Charleston to a more central location. A site was chosen in Richland County, which is in the geographic center of the state, and a new town was laid out. Richland County's boundaries were formally incorporated on December 18, 1799. Cotton from the surrounding plantations was shipped through Columbia and later manufactured into textiles there. General William T. Sherman captured Columbia during the Civil War and his troops burned the town and parts of the county on February 17, 1865. The U. S. Army returned on friendlier terms in 1917, when Fort Jackson was established, which is now the largest and most active Initial Entry Training Center in the U.S. Army. The South Carolina State House is located in downtown Columbia.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 771.96 sqmi, of which 757.28 sqmi is land and 14.68 sqmi (1.90%) is water. Richland County is situated in the center of South Carolina.

National protected area

 * Congaree National Park

State and local protected areas/sites

 * Harbison State Forest
 * Nipper Creek Heritage Preserve
 * Riverbanks Zoo and Garden
 * Sesquicentennial State Park
 * South Carolina State Fair
 * South Carolina State Museum
 * Wateree Heritage Preserve/Wildlife Management Area

Major water bodies

 * Broad River
 * Congaree River
 * Lake Murray
 * Little River
 * Saluda River
 * Wateree River

Adjacent counties

 * Kershaw County – northeast
 * Fairfield County – north
 * Sumter County – east
 * Lexington County – west
 * Calhoun County – south
 * Newberry County – northwest

2020 census
As of the 2020 census, 416,147 people, 153,484 households, and 90,802 families were residing in the county.

2010 census
At the 2010 census, 384,504 people, 145,194 households, and 89,357 families were residing in the county. The population density was 507.9 PD/sqmi. There were 161,725 housing units at an average density of 213.6 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 45.3% White, 48.9% African American, 2.2% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.9% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 4.8% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 9.6% were German, 8.6% were English, 7.6% were Irish, and 7.1% were American.

Of the 145,194 households, 32.9% had children under 18 living with them, 39.6% were married couples living together, 17.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 38.5% were not families, and 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.43, and the average family size was 3.05. The median age was 32.6 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $47,922 and for a family was $61,622. Males had a median income of $42,453 versus $34,012 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,805. About 10.0% of families and 14.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.6% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.

Law and government
Richland County is governed by a county council, who hold concurrent four-year terms. Richland County is governed under the Council-Administrator form of government, which is very similar to the council–manager form of government. The major difference between the council–manager and council–administrator forms of government is the title of the chief executive.

The South Carolina Department of Corrections, headquartered in Columbia and in Richland County, operates several correctional facilities in Columbia and in Richland County. They include the Broad River Correctional Institution, the Goodman Correctional Institution, the Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution, the Stevenson Correctional Institution, and the Campbell Pre-Release Center. Graham houses the state's female death row. The State of South Carolina execution chamber is located at Broad River. From 1990 to 1997 Broad River housed the state's male death row.

In March 2008, the Richland County Sheriff's Department acquired an armored personnel carrier equipped with a .50 caliber machine gun. Reason magazine criticized the acquisition as "overkill".

Politics
Richland County was one of the first areas of South Carolina to break away from a Solid South voting pattern. From 1948 to 1988, it only supported the official Democratic candidate for president once, in 1976. It voted for splinter Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond in 1948, and for unpledged electors in 1956.

Since 1992, Richland County has been one of the stronger Democratic bastions in South Carolina, following the trend of most urban counties across the country.

Economy
In 2022, the GDP was $32 billion (about $75,222 per capita), and the real GDP was $27.3 billion (about $64,302 per capita) in chained 2017 dollars.

Interstates

 * (Interstate 20) travels from west to east and connects Columbia to Atlanta and Augusta in the west and Florence in the east. It serves the nearby towns and suburbs of Pelion, Lexington, West Columbia, Sandhill, Pontiac, and Elgin. Interstate 20 is also used by travelers heading to Myrtle Beach, although the interstate's eastern terminus is in Florence.
 * (Interstate 26) travels from northwest to southeast and connects the Columbia area to the other two major population centers of South Carolina: the Greenville–Spartanburg area in the northwestern part of the state and the North Charleston–Charleston area in the southeastern part of the state.
 * (Interstate 77) begins in Lexington county and ends in Cleveland, Ohio, and is frequently used by travelers on the east coast heading to or from Florida.
 * (Interstate 126) branches off from I-26 and leads into downtown Columbia and provides access to Riverbanks Zoo.

Airports
The Jim Hamilton–L.B. Owens Airport operates over 56,000 aircraft annually, but is a smaller airport used mostly for small and private planes. The main airport for the region is the Columbia Metropolitan Airport, which is located in neighboring Lexington County. In 2018, the Columbia Metro Airport served 1,197,603 passengers with 12,324 flights.

Bus systems
Public transportation in Richland County is provided by the COMET, or officially the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority (CMRTA). The bus system is the main public transit system for the greater Columbia area and services approximately 2,800,000 passengers annually. In Richland County, the bus system runs in the areas of Columbia, Forest Acres, Fort Jackson, Irmo, St. Andrews, Northeast Richland, Lower Richland, and Eastover. Additionally, COMET offers Dial-a-ride transit (DART), which provides personalized service passengers with disabilities.

The University of South Carolina's transit system, which is maintained by COMET, services an additional 1,000,000 passengers annually.

Railway
Columbia has one Amtrak station (CLB) that serves over 30,000 passengers per year on the Silver Star rail line. Additionally, Richland County has an operating facility for CSX Transportation, a company that transports over one million carloads of freight on South Carolina's rail network.

Major infrastructure

 * Columbia Station
 * Fort Jackson
 * McEntire Joint National Guard Base, U.S. Air Force base

Attractions

 * Congaree National Park
 * Fort Jackson National Cemetery
 * Harbison State Forest
 * Lake Murray
 * Palmetto Trail
 * Richland Library
 * Riverbanks Zoo
 * Sesquicentennial State Park
 * South Carolina State Fair
 * South Carolina State Museum

Cities

 * Cayce (mostly in Lexington County)
 * Columbia (state capital, county seat, and largest community in the county; partly in Lexington County)
 * Forest Acres

Towns

 * Arcadia Lakes
 * Blythewood (partly in Fairfield County)
 * Eastover
 * Elgin (mostly in Kershaw County)
 * Irmo (mostly in Lexington County)

Census-designated places

 * Arthurtown
 * Capitol View
 * Dentsville
 * Gadsden
 * Hopkins
 * Lake Murray of Richland
 * Olympia
 * St. Andrews
 * Woodfield

Unincorporated communities

 * Bookman
 * Horrell Hill
 * Pontiac
 * Wateree

Neighborhoods

 * Boyden Arbor
 * Cedar Creek
 * Eau Claire
 * Fairwold Acres
 * Killian
 * Kingville
 * Leesburg
 * Lykes
 * Mountain Brook
 * Riverside
 * Spring Hill
 * State Park
 * Wateree
 * Windsor Estates

Regions

 * Dutch Fork
 * Fort Jackson
 * Intown/downtown
 * Lower Richland
 * Northeast Richland
 * Upper Richland

Population ranking
The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Richland County.

† = county seat

In popular culture
Richland County was one of several counties across the country used as a filming location for the A&E reality documentary series Live PD, which worked in collaboration with the Richland County Sheriff's Department. The show first premiered in 2016 and aired for four years until its cancellation in 2020. In 2022, an unofficial revival of the show, On Patrol: Live, aired on Reelz. It features Curtis Wilson from the Richland County Sheriff's Department as well as the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office.