Housing Units in South Carolina
A housing unit is defined as a house, an apartment, a mobile home, a group of rooms, or a single room occupied, or intended for occupancy, as separate living quarters. Separate living quarters are those in which the occupant(s) live separately from any other people in the building and which have direct access from outside the building or through a common hall.
In the 2000 Census, there were 1,753,670 housing units in South Carolina.
Housing Units: 2000
| South Carolina | United States | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | |
| Total Housing Units | 1,753,670 | 100.0 | 115,904,641 | 100.0 |
| Total Occupied | 1,533,854 | 87.5 | 105,480,101 | 91.0 |
| Owner Occupied | 1,107,617 | 72.2 | 69,815,753 | 66.2 |
| Renter Occupied | 426,237 | 27.8 | 35,664,348 | 33.8 |
| Total Vacant | 219,816 | 12.5 | 10,424,540 | 9.0 |
| Vacant for Rent | 58,176 | 26.5 | 2,614,652 | 25.1 |
| Vacant for Sale | 21,955 | 10.0 | 1,204,318 | 11.6 |
| Vacant for Seasonal Use | 70,198 | 31.9 | 3,578,718 | 34.3 |
| Vacant for Other Reasons | 69,487 | 31.6 | 3,026,852 | 29.0 |
In South Carolina, 12.5 percent of housing units were vacant and 87.5 percent were occupied in 2000. On the national level,
just 9.0 percent of housing units were vacant. Only four states in the
South, including South Carolina, had vacancy rates exceeding 12 percent. This is in part due to the sizable number of housing units in South Carolina classified as "vacant
for
seasonal, recreational, and occasional use." 31.9 percent of vacant housing units (4.0 percent of all housing units) in the state fell into this category.
Percent Change in Housing Units 1990 - 2000
(A positive number indicates an increase and a negative number indicates a decrease)
| Total Housing Units | Owner Occupied | Renter Occupied | Vacant Units | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Carolina | 23.1% | 26.1% | 12.4% | 32.3% |
| United States | 13.3% | 18.3% | 8.3% | 1.0% |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000. SF1, Tables H3, H4, H5.