Greenville County ( ; locally ) is located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 525,534, making it the most populous county in the state. Its county seat is Greenville. The county is also home to the Greenville County School District, the largest school system in South Carolina. It is the central county of the Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC Combined Statistical Area.
History 18th and 19th centuries In 1786, due to population growth in Ninety-Six District and the victory of the American Whigs over the British and their colonial Tory and Cherokee allies, the state legislature formed Greenville County (originally spelled Greeneville), named for General Nathanael Greene, the hero of the American southern campaign. Greenville County was the first county created in the overarching Ninety-Six District, but from 1791 to 1798, both neighboring Pendleton County (the other county formed from Cherokee territory in northwestern Ninety-Six District) and it were part of the new overarching Washington District. From 1798 to 1800, it was part of the short-lived overarching Pendleton District. In 1798, all counties were reidentified as "elective districts" to be effective on January 1, 1800; thereafter, the Greenville District was no longer part of Pendleton District. In 1868, the districts were converted back to counties. After the Civil War ended in the 1860s, former slaves gained freedom, the textile industry grew quickly, and cotton farming expanded in the county. Completion of the Southern Railway in 1893 joined the local economy with the rest of the nation.
20th century The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's consolidation into the 1900s further linked the county with the national economy, and dozens of textile companies opened, with farm workers migrating to associated mill villages. World War I and creation of the Army National Guard's Camp Sevier in Taylors further increased the county's outside connections in the early 20th century. Duke's Mayonnaise was started in Greenville in 1917 and still has its company headquarters in the county.
World War II brought additional contracts for the textile industry in the 1940s. After the war ended, agriculture decreased and business leaders such as Charles E. Daniel and Roger Milliken pursued other industries to replace textiles. Donaldson Air Force Base was converted into an industrial air park (now Donaldson Center Airport) in the early 1960s, and Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport opened then as well.
The 1960s brought gradual racial desegregation until the county's whole school district was integrated in January 1970. Interstate highways I-85, I-185, and I-385 first crossed the county in the 1960s, promoting growth and better economic placement. The mid-1960s reapportionment of state legislative representation into equal-population election districts brought political change, with metropolitan counties such as Greenville gaining influence over rural counties. Greenville County politicians were elected as state house and senate leaders and as state governors (Richard Riley and Carroll A. Campbell Jr.) in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
Geography According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.21%) is water. The northern border follows natural ridge lines and crests of the Blue Ridge Mountains, resulting in a small portion of the county being the northernmost in South Carolina.
State and local protected areas/sites
Ashmore Heritage Preserve/Wildlife Management Area Bald Rock Heritage Preserve Belvue Springs Heritage Preserve Blackwell Heritage Preserve Blue Wall Preserve Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve Caesars Head/Jones Gap Caesars Head State Park Cedar Falls Park Chestnut Ridge Heritage Preserve and Wildlife Management Area Clear Creek Heritage Preserve Conestee Nature Preserve Eva Russell Chandler Heritage Preserve/Wildlife Management Area Falls Park on the Reedy Greenville Zoo J. Verne Smith Park (Lake Robinson) Jones Gap State Park Mills Mill Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area Paris Mountain State Park Pleasant Valley Park Poinsett Bridge Heritage Preserve Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area Upcountry History Museum Watson-Cooper Heritage Preserve/Wildlife Management Area
Major water bodies Enoree River North Saluda Reservoir North Saluda River Reedy River Saluda River South Pacolet River South Saluda River
Adjacent counties
Henderson County, North Carolina – north Polk County, North Carolina – northeast Spartanburg County – east Laurens County – southeast Abbeville County – south Anderson County – southwest Pickens County – west Transylvania County, North Carolina – northwest
Major highways
Major infrastructure Donaldson Center Airport Greenville Downtown Airport Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport (mostly in Spartanburg County) Greenville Station (Amtrak)
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Greenville County, South Carolina – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980 Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)233,777257,069286,663317,197343,89781.20%80.29%75.51%70.30%65.44%Black or African American alone (NH)50,42057,48569,04280,56987,12417.51%17.95%18.19%17.86%16.58%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)2854396119158930.10%0.14%0.16%0.20%0.17%Asian alone (NH)8782,0825,1788,77212,8750.30%0.65%1.36%1.94%2.45%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census127217398xx0.03%0.05%0.08%Other race alone (NH)338643377172,3450.12%0.02%0.09%0.16%0.45%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census3,3756,34319,977xx0.89%1.41%3.80%Hispanic or Latino (any race)2,2153,02814,28336,49558,0250.77%0.95%3.76%8.09%11.04%Total287,913320,167379,616451,225525,534 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census As of the 2020 census, 525,534 people and 130,296 families resided in the county. The median age was 38.7 years; 22.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.9% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 93.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 91.0 males.
The racial makeup of the county was 67.2% White, 16.8% Black or African American, 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.5% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 5.9% from some other race, and 7.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 11.0% of the population.
88.1% of residents lived in urban areas, while 11.9% lived in rural areas.
There were 209,082 households in the county, of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 28.2% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 27.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 226,215 housing units, of which 7.6% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 66.4% were owner-occupied and 33.6% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.0%.
2010 census At the 2000 census, 451,225 people, 176,531 households, and 119,362 families were residing in the county. The population density was . The 195,462 housing units had an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 73.8% White, 18.1% African American, 2.0% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.9% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 8.1% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 13.0% were American, 11.6% were German, 10.9% were English, and 10.7% were Irish.
Of the 176,531 households, 33.7% had children under 18 living with them, 49.7% were married couples living together, 13.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.4% were not families, and 27.0% were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.49, and the average family size was 3.03. The median age was 37.2 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $46,830 and for a family was $59,043. Males had a median income of $45,752 versus $33,429 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,931. About 10.8% of families and 14.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.0% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over.
Ancestry As of 2016, the largest self-reported ancestry groups in Greenville County were:
Ancestry Percent(2016) English 12.9% German 11.0% Irish 10.2% American 9.9% Scotch-Irish 3.1% Italian 3.1% Scottish 2.9% French 2.2% Polish 1.5% Dutch 1.2% Welsh 0.7% Swedish 0.7% Norwegian 0.6%
Government and politics Greenville County is governed by a 12-member county council. The current county administrator is Joseph Kernell, whom the council appointed in January 2004 after voting in late 2003 to hire him. Kernell was previously the county administrator for St. Charles County, Missouri. Other staff hired by the council include a clerk and an attorney.
Council members are elected by voters in each of the 12 state house districts (17–28) within the county and serve staggered four-year terms.
+County Council membersDistrictName / partyHomeElected17Travelers Rest202218Greer202419 (chair)Greenville202220Travelers Rest202021Simpsonville202422Greenville202423Greenville202224Greenville200825Greenville2016 (1984)26 (vice chair)Pelzer202227Simpsonville202428Mauldin2018
From the latter half of the 20th century onward, Greenville County has voted overwhelmingly Republican in presidential elections. It has gone Republican in every presidential election since 1960, and in all but one election since 1952. Jimmy Carter of neighboring Georgia failed to win the county in 1976 despite winning the state. Carter's 1976 run is the last time a Democrat received 40% or more of the county's vote, and one of only two official Democratic candidates to do so since 1948. In 2020, Joe Biden became the first Democrat to obtain over 100,000 votes in the county, and Donald Trump's 18.2% margin of victory was the lowest for any Republican since 1980. Biden came within 320 votes of being only the second Democrat in 64 years to win 40% of the county's vote.
The county also rejects Democrats at the state level; it was one of the first areas of the state where Republicans were able to break the long Democratic monopoly on state and local offices. In South Carolina politics, conservative Greenville and Myrtle Beach are a counterbalance to the liberal Charleston and Columbia, and the moderate Charlotte suburbs.
Law enforcement When Greenville County was formed in 1786, it was served by the sheriff of the Ninety Six District. A Washington District, including Greenville and Pendleton Counties, existed from 1791 to 1799. (Pendleton was split in 1826 into Pickens and Anderson Counties.) One of the district's first sheriffs, Revolutionary War hero Robert Maxwell, served from 1795 to 1797, when he was killed in an ambush.
Sheriffs in South Carolina were originally elected by the state legislature. In 1808, a law was enacted to provide for the election of the sheriff directly by the citizens of the county, rather than by politicians. This method of election was placed into the South Carolina State Constitution in 1868 and the Office of Sheriff in Greenville County began.