Home / Bars & drinking places / South Carolina

Bars in South Carolina

How many bars exist per person present (residents + daytime workers) across the 14 South Carolina counties we cover, by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Data: Census ZBP 2023 + ACS 2024 + BLS QCEW.

Includes: Bars & taverns · Pubs & brewpubs (drinking-focused) · Cocktail & wine bars · Taprooms. Counted together because official statistics use one 722410 code.

State verdict (covered counties): Below the U.S. rate — 68% of the U.S. rate

Counties covered

in South Carolina

Bars

326

establishments (2023)

Per 10,000 present

0.7

residents + 0.5×workers

U.S. average

1.0

per 10,000 present

State index

68%

vs. U.S.

Residents

4,005,685

in covered counties

Workers

1,493,538

jobs in covered counties

Coverage. This page aggregates only the 14 South Carolina counties BizGapMap covers — not the whole state. Counts and the index reflect those counties. The aggregate index uses only ZIP cells Census published, so it is a lower bound. Density is a supply-side signal: it counts existing bars and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more.

Counties in South Carolina

City	County	Bars	Residents	Workers	Per 10k	Index	Verdict
Mount Pleasant	Charleston County	91–139	400,685	208,214	1.8	179–230%	High density
Myrtle Beach	Horry County	73–97	395,678	127,407	1.6	158–188%	High density
Greenville	Greenville County	63–109	586,310	291,783	0.9	85–123%	Range spans bands
Rock Hill	York County	20–44	294,233	97,045	0.6	58–110%	Range spans bands
Easley	Pickens County	9–29	150,090	29,797	0.5	54–150%	Range spans bands
Bluffton	Beaufort County	11–45	197,099	58,445	0.5	48–153%	Range spans bands
Columbia	Richland County	21–77	407,162	169,126	0.4	42–103%	Range spans bands
Florence	Florence County	7–33	144,668	67,896	0.4	39–150%	Range spans bands
Summerville	Dorchester County	6–22	166,963	39,897	0.3	32–106%	Range spans bands
West Columbia	Lexington County	9–35	314,008	109,650	0.2	24–83%	Range spans bands
Anderson	Anderson County	5–35	189,559	61,026	0.2	23–122%	Range spans bands
Spartanburg	Spartanburg County	7–71	334,295	125,154	0.2	17–152%	Range spans bands
Charleston	Berkeley County	4–30	265,788	62,924	0.1	13–100%	Range spans bands
Aiken	Aiken County	0–42	159,147	45,174	0.0	0–175%	Range spans bands

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Lowest vs. highest measured density

Fewest competitors per capita

179%

158%

85%

58%

54%

48%

42%

39%

Most competitors per capita

13%

17%

23%

24%

32%

39%

42%

Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A county with few bars may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. Use the ranking to find where to look, then verify locally.

← All Bars & drinking places markets nationwide · Methodology · Data sources

Check a ZIP or city · Search by radius · Answers · Data story · Methodology · Data sources · About · Privacy · Terms · Updates (RSS)

BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.