The South Carolina Forum, By The Numbers

From February 9 to April 30, 2026, South Carolinians answered this question: If South Carolina’s state leaders and residents could solve one problem, what should it be?

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Total Number of Visits
to Our Digital Platform

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Actions Taken

0

Issues Submitted

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Counties Represented
Based on Zip Code

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Contributors

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Participation Across
South Carolina

The data below is based on the 24,197 out of 45,422 contributors who provided their zip code. 21,225 additional South Carolinians contributed but did not provide a zip code.

Hover over a county to see the number of contributors from that area.

LOWHIGH

What South Carolinians Want To Fix

When we asked what needs to be fixed, South Carolinians contributed more than 1,200 issues, inspiring thousands more comments and reactions. Tap a circle below to see what your fellow South Carolinians said. (Note: Some duplicate submissions were removed or combined, and some issues fit in multiple categories.)

See the full issues dataset here.

  • Infrastructure & Transportation: 193
  • Governance, Elections & Civic Engagement: 172
  • Economy, Taxes & Cost of Living: 133
  • Healthcare & Public Health Access: 109
  • Environment, Conservation & Land Use: 84
  • Education & Youth Development: 74
  • Justice, Public Safety & Family Services: 68
  • Housing & Real Estate: 65

What South Carolinians Agree On

Based on South Carolinians’ inputs, we identified the top 25 issues informed by demographic and political consensus and shared them with the public on April 6, 2026.

Once again, South Carolinians from across the state stepped up and 8,023 people selected what matters most. These are the results. See the full dataset here.

96.30%

Voters with at least 1 issue in top 6

85.60%

Voters with at least 1 issue in top 3

Roads and Infrastructure Not Keeping Up With Growth

4,161 votes

South Carolina's roads, bridges, and public infrastructure have not kept pace with one of the nation's fastest population growth rates, raising questions about road safety, commute times, and long-term planning.

Elected Leaders Out of Touch With Constituents

3,298 votes

South Carolina has no term limits for state legislators, and some officials have served for decades, raising questions about accountability, turnover, and responsiveness to constituents.

Cost of Living Increasing While Wages Stagnating

3,088 votes

Across all backgrounds are struggling to afford basic living expenses, with wages failing to keep pace with rising costs for essentials like food, housing, and healthcare, leaving working families, seniors on fixed incomes, and long-time workers unable to meet everyday needs.

Property and Vehicle Taxes Rising

3,061 votes

South Carolinians feel burdened by property taxes, particularly seniors who feel they are unaffordable and creating major pressures on fixed incomes, similar to vehicle taxes.

Rapid Growth Impacting Natural Resources

2,946 votes

Rapid residential and commercial development is transforming South Carolina's landscape, consuming wetlands, farmland, and forests while placing pressure on local infrastructure and services.

Rising Utility Bills Squeezing Household Budgets

2,782 votes

Electricity rates in South Carolina have risen with new peak-hour pricing structures and limited competitive alternatives for consumers.

South Carolinians Who Raised Their Voice

This data reflects participation since The South Carolina Forum launch on February 9 to April 30, 2026, plus a short pre-launch window.

Our outreach efforts aimed to include every demographic in rough proportion to the state population. At the conclusion of the voting round, some groups were still underrepresented in our participant pool, including Black / African-American South Carolinians and younger (age 18-29) South Carolinians. To support top issue selection, we conducted additional analysis that confirmed their top priorities strongly aligned with the four dominant themes that emerged statewide: slow wage growth, rising cost of living, strained infrastructure, and unresponsive elected leaders.

Age

30%25%20%15%10%5%0%
18-29 | 6.37%
30-39 | 9.61%
40-49 | 13.5%
50-59 | 19.18%
60-69 | 27.68%
70+ | 23.66%
18-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60-69
70+

Political Lean

Very Conservative
10.38%
Conservative
30.09%
Moderate
29.02%
Liberal
16.2%
Very Liberal
6.68%
Not Sure
7.63%

Race / Ethnicity

White
81.12%
Black or African-American
8.42%
Prefer not to say
7.22%
Hispanic or Latino
1.48%
American Indian or Alaska Native
0.75%
Asian
0.58%
Middle Eastern or North African
0.25%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
0.18%

Region

Behind the Numbers

Every result in this report was produced by a transparent, repeatable process. Here’s exactly how it worked.

For more information, check out The South Carolina Forum’s website, which includes project background and our privacy policy.

Disclaimer: The Forum is a demonstration project designed to test a new approach to public engagement using multiple digital tools. The data reflects input contributed by participants who choose to engage in the process. As we adapt the design to foster broad participation, we are actively reviewing data to improve accuracy and reduce duplication. This is not a formal research study, and while we strive for rigor, some errors or inconsistencies may occur.

What’s Happened and What’s Ahead

There is more work ahead to shape the future of South Carolina. Here is where we will go next.

Hover over a step to read the full description.

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Identifying the Top Issues (CLOSED)

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Community Conversations (SIGN UP NOW)

3

In-Person Civic Assembly

4

Engagement and Advocacy

Next Step: Realtime, Small-Group Conversations on the Top Issues

In June and July 2026, South Carolinians are invited to join Community Conversations (register here), small-group discussions focused on the top issues identified through the digital engagement process outlined in this report. Here’s how we’re taking your votes forward as conversation topics in June and July:

Issue #1: Growth, Infrastructure, and Roads

Your top-voted issues indicated shared concern about rapid growth in South Carolina and its impact on roads, infrastructure, and natural resources. Community Conversations will include opportunities to focus on rapid growth and its adverse impacts.

Issue #2: Responsive Elected Leaders

Among the top issues garnering comments, reactions, and votes was concern that the state’s elected leaders fail to respond to constituent priorities, whether because of unlimited terms or other weak accountability mechanisms. Community Conversations will explore ways to strengthen connection between elected leaders and constituents.

Issue #3: Rising Cost of Living

According to our participants, housing, utility bills, and taxes are all putting the squeeze on South Carolinians. The rising cost of living appeared in three of your six top-voted issues and will advance to Community Conversations as a broad area of exploration and problem-solving.

Issue #4: Slow Wage Growth

In addition to the rising cost of living, many issue contributors and voters cited slow wage growth as a concern impacting overall affordability in our state. With many factors determining job availability, mobility, and compensation in South Carolina, this rich topic deserves its own focus and will advance to Community Conversations.

How to Join Community Conversations

Deliberative Community Conversations begin in June 2026. Small-group conversations are forming across South Carolina — and your voice belongs in the room.

Sign up Here

The South Carolina Forum · scforum.org