South Carolina Franchise Opportunities

With a strong labor force, laws benefitting businesses and fairly low taxes, South Carolina is a good place to start a new franchise. If you’re a fan of fresh tobacco and southern cooking, think about making the Palmetto State your new home!

City Selection

With beautiful terrain across the state, you won’t be far from a river, lake or the ocean while living in South Carolina. Here are a few options for where you might want to settle down:

• Charleston: The oldest and fastest growing city in the state, Charleston is full of history, amazing architecture and its polite and welcoming townsfolk.
• Columbia: The state capital and largest city, Columbia is home to about 800,000 people, as well as a number of colleges and universities.
• Hilton Head: This island in the southern part of the state is a popular vacation destination and has a strong arts scene and beautiful landscape.

Economic Drivers

South Carolina has a GDP of $191.2 billion, putting it on par with the Czech Republic. Agriculture is one of the biggest industries, with crops such as soybeans, hay, rice, poultry, pigs, and most notably, tobacco and peaches.

Manufacturing is also a major section of the economy, with the state producing textiles, chemicals, paper products and automobiles. Tourism is also a big driver, employing more than 11 percent of the workforce.

Let’s Talk Taxes

South Carolina has a corporate income tax set at a flat 5 percent, as well as a corporate license fee based on net worth. The state sales tax is 6 percent, and the personal income tax ranges from 3 to 7 percent.

Business Breakdown

• There are 372,000 small businesses in South Carolina, which make up 97 percent of the employers in the state.
• Of those, 13,250 are franchises, which employ 145,000 people.