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Demographics of Florence, SC
Affluence Level in Florence, SC
A below-average socioeconomic profile. Incomes, home values, and educational attainment trail the U.S., with higher poverty and unemployment.
People of Florence, SC
The people of Florence, South Carolina today form a city of roughly 40,205 residents that is nearly evenly split between Black (49.5%) and White (42.6%) populations, with small but distinct Asian (1.7%), Indian subcontinent (1.4%), and Hispanic (2.9%) communities. This is a historically Black-majority city in a rural, conservative-leaning county, where the population is older than the national median and about 29.9% hold a college degree. The city’s identity is rooted in its role as a regional medical, railroad, and retail hub, giving it a pragmatic, middle-class character that contrasts with the coastal boomtowns and Upstate manufacturing centers elsewhere in the state.
How the city was settled and grew
Florence was not a colonial-era settlement. It was founded in the 1850s as a railroad junction where the Wilmington and Manchester and the Northeastern Railroad lines crossed. The original population was a mix of white railroad workers, merchants, and enslaved African Americans who built the tracks and later worked in the rail yards. After the Civil War, freedmen settled in what became the North Florence and South Park neighborhoods, establishing churches, schools, and small businesses that anchored the Black community for generations. The city incorporated in 1871 and grew steadily through the early 1900s as tobacco warehouses, cotton mills, and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad headquarters drew white and Black workers from the surrounding Pee Dee region. The Downtown Historic District and Timrod Park area became the center of white professional and merchant life, while Black Florence remained concentrated in the northern and eastern wards. By 1950, Florence had about 22,000 residents, with a Black population around 40%.
Modern era (post-1965)
The post-1965 era reshaped Florence’s population through two main forces: suburbanization and the expansion of the medical sector. The 1965 Hart-Cellar Act had minimal direct effect here—foreign-born residents remain just 1.9% of the population—but domestic migration patterns shifted significantly. White families moved to new subdivisions in West Florence and South Florence along the I-95 corridor, leaving the older city core increasingly Black. The Black population grew from about 45% in 1970 to its current 49.5%, while the white share fell from over 50% to 42.6%. The Asian and Indian subcontinent communities are small but notable: East/Southeast Asian families (1.7%) largely arrived in the 1980s and 1990s as medical professionals at the McLeod Health and MUSC Health systems, settling in the South Irby Street area near the hospitals. The Indian subcontinent population (1.4%) followed a similar path, with many working as physicians, engineers, or motel operators along the I-95 corridor. The Hispanic population (2.9%) is the fastest-growing segment, driven by construction and agricultural work, with a small cluster forming in the East Florence area near the industrial parks. No single ethnic group dominates a neighborhood to the exclusion of others, but the city is effectively divided along racial lines: West Florence is overwhelmingly white and middle-class, North Florence and South Park are predominantly Black and lower-income, and the hospital corridor is the most diverse zone.
The future
Florence’s population is heading toward gradual diversification, but the pace is slow. The foreign-born share is rising from a very low base, with Hispanic growth likely to continue as the Pee Dee region attracts logistics and manufacturing jobs. The Black and white shares are converging toward parity, but the city is not homogenizing—it is tribalizing into distinct enclaves, with white flight to the western suburbs and Black concentration in the urban core. The Asian and Indian subcontinent communities are small enough that they are assimilating into the professional class rather than forming ethnic enclaves, though the hospital corridor provides a natural anchor. The next 10-20 years will likely see the Hispanic share reach 5-7%, the Black share hold steady or decline slightly, and the white share continue a slow decline as younger whites move to Charlotte or Charleston. The city’s population is aging, and without a major new employer or university expansion, Florence will remain a stable, slowly diversifying regional hub rather than a boomtown.
For someone moving in now, Florence offers a racially balanced, politically conservative city with a strong medical economy and a low cost of living. The population is rooted, not transient, and the social fabric is built around churches, schools, and family networks rather than newcomers. The city is becoming slightly more diverse but remains deeply segregated by neighborhood, so where you choose to live—West Florence for a suburban feel, the hospital corridor for diversity, or the historic core for affordability—will define your experience more than in a more integrated city.
* Values derived from national, state, county, city and local statistics and may differ in a specific area. Last updated: 2026-04-24T20:52:47.000Z
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