The Upstate, historically known as the Upcountry, is a region of the U.S. state of

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, comprising the northwesternmost area of the state. Although loosely defined among locals, the general definition includes the 10 counties of the commerce-rich I-85 corridor in the northwest corner of South Carolina. This definition coincided with the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, SC Combined Statistical Area, as first defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in 2015. In 2023, the OMB issued its most updated definition of the CSA that coincides again with the 10-county region. The region's population was 1,487,610 as of 2020. Situated between

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and Charlotte, the Upstate is the geographical center of the Charlanta megaregion. After BMW's initial investment, foreign companies, including others from Germany, have a substantial presence in the Upstate; several large corporations have established regional, national, or continental headquarters in the area. Greenville is the largest city in the region; it has a population of 72,227 and an urban-area population of 387,271, and it is the base of most commercial activity. Greer and Spartanburg are next in population.

Counties

Ten counties are included in the Upstate of South Carolina: Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Pickens, Oconee, Greenwood, Laurens,

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

, Union, Abbeville.

Metropolitan, micropolitan, and combined statistical areas

As of 2023, the Greenville–Spartanburg–Anderson CSA includes all ten counties in the Upstate. Within the CSA are a total of two metropolitan statistical areas and three micropolitan statistical areas. As of the 2020 Census, the Greenville–Spartanburg–Anderson CSA had a population of 1,511,105.

Communities

The following population rankings are based on the 2010 Census.See http://factfinder.census.gov for population numbers and for municipality and CDP lists.

Primary cities

Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Greer, Mauldin, and Greenwood, The OMB labels all these cities as principal cities in their respective MSAs and μSA.

Other communities with more than 20,000 residents

Cities: Easley, Simpsonville CDPs: Taylors, Wade Hampton

Communities with more than 10,000 residents

Cities: Clemson, Gaffney, and Fountain Inn, South Carolina. Gaffney is a principal city in its μSA. If students from Clemson University are included, Clemson has close to 30,000 residents. CDP's: Berea, Five Forks, Gantt, Parker, Boiling Springs

Communities with fewer than 10,000 residents

Communities in the Upstate with under 10,000 residents include: Cities: * Abbeville * Belton * Chesnee * Clinton * Inman * Landrum * Laurens *

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

* Pickens * Seneca * Travelers Rest * Union * Walhalla * Wellford *

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

* Woodruff Towns: * Blacksburg * Calhoun Falls * Campobello * Carlisle * Central * Central Pacolet *

Cowpens Cowpens may refer to: * Battle of Cowpens, a battle in the American Revolution * Cowpens National Battlefield, a unit of the National Park Service that protects the battlefield. * Cowpens, South Carolina * USS Cowpens (CG-63), USS ''Cowpens'' (CG-63 ...

* Cross Hill * Donalds * Due West * Duncan * Gray Court * Hodges * Honea Path * Iva * Jonesville * Lockhart * Lowndesville * Lyman * Ninety Six * Norris * Pacolet * Pelzer * Pendleton * Reidville * Salem * Six Mile * Starr *

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

* Ware Shoals * Waterloo * West Union * West Pelzer * Williamston Seneca is a principal city in its μSA. According to the 2010 Census, no town in the Upstate has a population greater than 6000. CDPs: * Antreville * Arcadia *

Arial Arial is a sans-serif typeface in the Sans-serif#Neo-grotesque, neo-grotesque style. Fonts from the Arial family are included with all versions of Microsoft Windows after Windows 3.1, as well as in other Microsoft programs, Apple's macOS, and ma ...

* Bradley * Buffalo * Centerville * City View * Clifton * Cokesbury * Converse * Coronaca * Cross Anchor * Dunean * East Gaffney * Enoree * Fair Play * Fairforest * Fingerville * Glendale * Golden Grove * Gramling * Homeland Park * Inman Mills *

Joanna Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from . Variants in English include Joan, Joann, Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in English are Jan, Jane, Janet, Janice, Jean, and Jeanne. The earliest recorded occurrence of th ...

* Judson * Lake Secession * Mayo * Monarch Mill * Mountville * Newry * Northlake *

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

* Powdersville * Princeton *

Promised Land In the Abrahamic religions, the "Promised Land" ( ) refers to a swath of territory in the Levant that was bestowed upon Abraham and his descendants by God in Abrahamic religions, God. In the context of the Bible, these descendants are originally ...

* Roebuck * Sans Souci * Saxon * Slater-Marietta * Southern Shops * Startex * Tigerville * Utica * Valley Falls * Ware Place * Watts Mills * Welcome

Institutions of higher education

The following table shows the major institutions of higher education in the Upstate. In 2008, ''U.S. News'' ranked Furman as the 37th-best liberal arts college, Wofford College as the 59th-best, and Presbyterian College as the 101st-best. Also, they ranked Clemson University as the 67th-best national university. According to the Bob Jones University, its Museum and Gallery constitutes the largest collection of religious art in the Western Hemisphere.

Economy

The majority of business and commerce in the Upstate takes place in Greenville County. Greenville has the largest concentration of businesses and financial institutions in its downtown area. In fact, the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson MSA was ranked seventh in the nation by site consultants considering the top markets for economic development. Many financial institutions have regional offices located in downtown Greenville. These include

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

and the now-defunct Wachovia. Other major industries of commerce in the Upstate include the auto industry, which is concentrated mainly along the corridor between Greenville and Spartanburg around the BMW manufacturing facility in Greer. The other major industry in the Upstate is the healthcare and pharmaceuticals. Greenville Hospital System and Bon Secours St. Francis Health System are the area's largest in the healthcare sector, while the pharmaceutical corporation of Bausch & Lomb has set up regional operations alongside smaller recently developed local companies such as IRIX Manufacturing and Pharmaceutical Associates. The Upstate is also home to a large amount of private-sector and university-based research activity, including R&D facilities for Michelin, Fuji, and GE Vernova and research centers to support the automotive, life sciences, plastics, and photonics industries. Clemson University, BMW,

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

, and Michelin have combined their resources to create Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research, a research park that specializes in the development of automotive technology.

Corporations based in or with a major presence in the Upstate

These corporations have a major presence in the Upstate: Adidas, Advance America,

, BMW of North America
Bon Secours St. Francis Health SystemBon Secours , Bringing Health Care and Good Help to Those in NeedBosch North America
Denny's Restaurants, Dunlop Sport, Ernst & Young, Fluor Corporation, Freightliner
GE VernovaPrisma Health

Kemet CorporationLiberty Corporation
Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System
Michelin of North America

, Milliken & Company
Spartanburg Regional Health SystemSpectrum CommunicationsSunTrust
Ovation Brands
Perrigo Company of South Carolina
Techtronic Industries
Toronto-Dominion BankUnited Community
and Verizon. • BMW's only North American manufacturing plant is located in Spartanburg County, with an investment of $3.7 billion. • Fujifilm located their first manufacturing facility in the U.S. in Greenwood County. • Michelin North America's headquarters is located in Greenville, along with seven manufacturing plants, R&D facility, and test track located in the Upstate. Michelin employs more than 7,800 in South Carolina. • Walgreens has their southeastern distribution center located in Anderson County, which employs mentally disabled workers as nearly 40% of their workforce.Tom Andel. (August 8, 2007)
How disabled workers enable Walgreens distribution
''Modern Materials Handling''

Transportation

The Upstate is served by two major interstate highways, I-85 and I-26. Other major interstate spurs include I-185, I-385, and I-585. The major airport in the region is Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, located nearly halfway between Greenville and Spartanburg in suburban Greer. Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Clemson, Pickens, Union, and Gaffney each have smaller airfields.

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

service along the Crescent Line stops in Spartanburg, Greenville, and Clemson.

Media

The Upstate region is served by three regional newspapers: ''

The Greenville News ''The Greenville News'' is a daily morning newspaper published in Greenville, South Carolina. After ''The State (newspaper), The State'' in Columbia and Charleston's ''The Post and Courier'', it is the third largest paper in South Carolina. Hi ...

'', the (Spartanburg) '' Herald-Journal'', and the '' Anderson Independent-Mail'', each of which serves its individual city and surrounding area. '' The Post and Courier'' recently opened expansion newsrooms in Greenville and Spartanburg for coverage of the Upstate, including Clemson. The Upstate is part of the vastly larger Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson- Asheville designated market area, which extends into western North Carolina and northeastern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. These television stations serve the region: * WYFF Channel 4 – Greenville ( NBC) * WSPA-TV Channel 7 – Spartanburg ( CBS) * WLOS-TV Channel 13 – Asheville, North Carolina ( ABC) * WGGS-TV Channel 16 – Greenville ( TBN) * WHNS Channel 21 – Greenville ( Fox) * WNTV Channel 29 – Greenville ( SCETV) * WUNF-TV Channel 33 – Asheville ( UNC-TV) * WMYA-TV Channel 40 – Anderson ( MNTV) * WYCW Channel 62 – Asheville ( CW)

References

External links

The Upcountry website
– Six Upstate counties form the "Upcountry" tourism region
South Carolina Appalachian Council of Governments
– This council of governments covers the "Upcountry" counties.
Old 96 Distrist
– Three Upstate counties form a part of the Old 96 District tourism region. * Union County is one of the seven counties in th
Olde English District

Ten at the Top
– A

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...