The fastest-growing county in the Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in 2024 is not in Richmond or Columbia County.
It is Burke County. Real Gross Domestic Product grew at 15.6% in 2024 from 2023, according to recently released data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Columbia County grew at 3.6%, Richmond County at 1.6%, and Lincoln County at 0.6%. McDuffie County shrank by 3.5%.
In South Carolina, Aiken County grew at 2.7,% and Edgefield County shrank by 1.9% (see graph below). The state of South Carolina grew faster (4.5%) than the state of Georgia (2.6%).
Richmond County is still the largest economic engine of the MSA. In 2024, real GDP in Richmond County was $13.2 billion, almost double the size of the second largest, Aiken County.
Gross Domestic Product measures the total output of final goods and services produced in a country in a year. Burke County’s growth was driven by a 35% increase in utilities output, more than likely from the expanded Plant Vogtle. There was also strong growth in retail and educational services, health care, and social assistance.
Almost half the growth (48%) in Columbia County was in construction and retail. McDuffie County also saw strong growth in these sectors, but these gains were wiped out by contraction in manufacturing, mining, and quarrying. Growth in Lincoln County was driven by agriculture, forestry, and fishing as well as retail. Over half of the growth (54%) in Richmond County was in professional and business services. Construction and retail were also big contributors to growth in Richmond County.
Over in South Carolina, retail, professional, and business services, as well as finance, insurance, and real estate, contributed 98% of the growth in Aiken County. In Edgefield County, gains in manufacturing and retail were drowned out by losses in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting.
Overall, retail was a strong contributor to GDP growth in all seven counties of the MSA in 2024.
