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THERE'S STRENGTH IN OUR NUMBERS.

Lowcountry Community Indicators

The Lowcountry region—Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton, and Jasper Counties—experienced unprecedented growth, development, and change between 1990 and 2005. Between 2007 and 2010, a nationwide economic downturn negatively affected the region. Since 2011, the regional economy has shown signs of continuously rebounding. There is a great deal of quantitative information and data available that both confirms and explains what has taken place.

To continue monitoring and evaluating the state of the Lowcountry region, the Lowcountry Community Indicators (LCI) Project was initiated. The LCI consolidates the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry’s Community Indicators Report and the Lowcountry Council of Governments’ the People and the Economy Report. These two reports are complementary, providing common criteria and metrics related to the Lowcountry region.  

The main objective of the LCI is to provide a centralized community resource offering relevant indicators that help support informed decision-making. The LCI will assist citizen leaders, public officials and policy makers, nonprofit organizations, businesses, researchers, and the media in making decisions to positively affect the community’s well-being.

The LCI offers key indicators for the region that are understandable, meaningful, and accessible through its website www.lowcountrycommunityindicators.org. The LCI includes the following 8 categories and 36 topics which cover over 100 key indicators. By assessing changes that have occurred over time in these areas, the indicators offer a picture of how the region is doing and indicate where the region is heading. 
 
  • Demographics: Population, Households and Families, Computer and Internet Use, and Voting Registration
  • Health: Length of Life, Quality of Life, Access to Care, and Crimes
  • Housing: Housing Inventory, Costs and Affordability, Suboptimal Housing, and Residential Segregation
  • Environment: Environmental Conditions, Natural Hazards, Endangered Species, and Historic Places
  • Poverty: Demographics and Food Accessibility
  • Education: Education Attainment, School Environment, Classroom Environment, Graduation, and College and Career Readiness 
  • Transportation: Traffic Volume, Traffic Collision, License and Registration, Vehicle Availability, Commuting to Work, and Public Transportation 
  • Economy: Income, Employment Patterns, Military, Tourism, and Taxable Sales
The data for key indicators are obtained from valid and reliable sources including, but not limited to, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), S.C. Department of Education, S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce, S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC), S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism (SCPRT), S.C. Department of Public Safety, S.C. Department of Social Services (SCDSS), S.C. Department of Transportation, S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), and U.S. Census Bureau.

The website allows users to view, navigate to, and download specific, relevant indicators of each topic mentioned above. In addition, the user will have the ability to locate all the data for one specific county or compare the data for all four counties.

If you have any questions about the project, or would like to provide feedback, please contact us at info@lowcountrycommunityindicators.org.  To learn more about the Community Foundation of the Lowcountry, visit www.cf-lowcountry.org; and to learn more about Lowcountry Council of Governments, visit www.lowcountrycog.org.