Market data
Bankruptcy in South Carolina: market data
What public records say about the market for bankruptcy in South Carolina: how much demand the courts and agencies count, how many law offices serve it, how many people need help in Spanish, and the ad rules that apply. Every number links to the record it comes from.
Demand: what courts and agencies count
Counts of filings, crashes, complaints and enforcement in the records each agency keeps. A count shows where problems were recorded, not how many people will hire a lawyer.
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business bankruptcy cases | 196 cases, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-09-30 | South Carolina state | bankruptcy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739952 record bankruptcy-45 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases | 3,834 cases, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-09-30 | South Carolina state | bankruptcy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739952 record bankruptcy-45 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases | 2,141 cases, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-09-30 | South Carolina state | bankruptcy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739952 record bankruptcy-45 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Bankruptcy cases filed | 6,029 cases, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-09-30 | South Carolina state | bankruptcy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739952 record bankruptcy-45 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| CFPB debt or credit management complaints | 68 complaints, 12 months | 12 months from 2025-10-01 | South Carolina state | consumer-complaints v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23733731 record cfpb-sc-debt-management · status P · checked 2026-10-27 |
| Business bankruptcy cases | 173 cases, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-09-30 | District of South Carolina federal district | bankruptcy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739952 record bankruptcy-sc · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases | 3,786 cases, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-09-30 | District of South Carolina federal district | bankruptcy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739952 record bankruptcy-sc · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases | 2,106 cases, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-09-30 | District of South Carolina federal district | bankruptcy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739952 record bankruptcy-sc · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Bankruptcy cases filed | 5,931 cases, 12 months | 12 months ending 2026-09-30 | District of South Carolina federal district | bankruptcy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739952 record bankruptcy-sc · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
Rising or falling
The change between the last two periods each source publishes. No threshold and no smoothing.
| Measure | Before | Latest | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business bankruptcy cases South Carolina · record bankruptcy-45 | 188 2026-06-30 | 196 2026-09-30 | rising (+4.3%) |
| Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases South Carolina · record bankruptcy-45 | 3,686 2026-06-30 | 3,834 2026-09-30 | rising (+4%) |
| Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases South Carolina · record bankruptcy-45 | 1,997 2026-06-30 | 2,141 2026-09-30 | rising (+7.2%) |
| Bankruptcy cases filed South Carolina · record bankruptcy-45 | 5,730 2026-06-30 | 6,029 2026-09-30 | rising (+5.2%) |
| CFPB debt or credit management complaints South Carolina · record cfpb-sc-debt-management | 164 prior 12 months | 68 12 months from 2025-10-01 | falling (-58.5%) |
Lawyer supply
How many law offices and lawyers the federal statistics count here.
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New lawyers admitted | 701 lawyers a year | 2025 | South Carolina state | bar-pipeline v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721443 record sc-bar-pipeline · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Counties under 1 law office per 10,000 residents | 1 counties | 2026-Q1 | South Carolina state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-45 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Counties with no law office | 0 counties | 2026-Q1 | South Carolina state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-45 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Residents living in those low-office counties | 0.4 percent of residents | 2026-Q1 | South Carolina state | deserts v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430 record deserts-45 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Employer law firms | 2,416 firms | 2022 | South Carolina state | law-firm-economy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739997 record lfe-sc-all · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Receipts of employer law firms | 3,629,936,000 US dollars | 2022 | South Carolina state | law-firm-economy v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739997 record lfe-sc-all · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Law offices per 10,000 residents | 6.03 per 10,000 residents | 2026-Q1 | South Carolina state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-45 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Self-employed lawyers (nonemployer firms) | 3,307 firms | latest Nonemployer Statistics year | South Carolina state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-45 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Private law offices | 3,357 establishments | 2026-Q1 | South Carolina state | law-offices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415 record law-offices-45 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Lawyers employed (wage-earning, BLS OEWS) | 7,890 jobs | May 2025 | South Carolina state | lawyer-wages v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734840 record lawyer-wages:SC:231011:2025 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Median annual wage of employed lawyers | 120,310 US dollars a year | May 2025 | South Carolina state | lawyer-wages v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734840 record lawyer-wages:SC:231011:2025 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
Counties with the most demand per law office
Of the 25 counties in South Carolina with the most bankruptcy cases filed, the ten with the most per private law office. Both counts are shown with their records.
| County | Demand | Law offices | Per office |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chesterfield County, SC | 73 record bankruptcy-45025 | 8 record law-offices-45025 | 9.13 |
| Orangeburg County, SC | 180 record bankruptcy-45075 | 22 record law-offices-45075 | 8.18 |
| Kershaw County, SC | 145 record bankruptcy-45055 | 18 record law-offices-45055 | 8.06 |
| Cherokee County, SC | 53 record bankruptcy-45021 | 8 record law-offices-45021 | 6.63 |
| Laurens County, SC | 53 record bankruptcy-45059 | 8 record law-offices-45059 | 6.63 |
| Williamsburg County, SC | 53 record bankruptcy-45089 | 9 record law-offices-45089 | 5.89 |
| Sumter County, SC | 188 record bankruptcy-45085 | 33 record law-offices-45085 | 5.7 |
| Lancaster County, SC | 96 record bankruptcy-45057 | 19 record law-offices-45057 | 5.05 |
| Pickens County, SC | 76 record bankruptcy-45077 | 16 record law-offices-45077 | 4.75 |
| Dorchester County, SC | 219 record bankruptcy-45035 | 53 record law-offices-45035 | 4.13 |
Bankruptcy cases filed (bankruptcy v1.0.0, 12 months ending 2026-09-30) ÷ Private law offices (law-offices v1.0.0, 2026-Q1). ratio = bankruptcy.filings / law-offices.qcew_estabs, rounded to 2 decimals; ranked highest first, among the 25 units with the most demand. Units with zero supply are listed apart (ratio undefined); units without a published value are listed as missing.
Spanish-language demand
People who speak Spanish and speak English less than very well, and the lawyers who speak Spanish, from the Census Bureau survey (with margins of error).
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawyers who speak Spanish at home (ACS) | not published lawyers | 2020-2024 | South Carolina state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:SC:lawyers-spanish · status U · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English per Spanish-speaking lawyer | not published people per lawyer | 2020-2024 | South Carolina state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:SC:lep-per-spanish-lawyer · status U · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English (ACS) | 113,786 ±3,746 people age 5+ | 2020-2024 | South Carolina state | language v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758 record language:state:SC:spanish-lep · status P · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Spanish speakers with limited English | 113,786 ±3,610 people age 5+ | 2020-2024 | South Carolina state | legal-need v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23741886 record legal-need-sc · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
Ad rules that apply
The rules a law firm's ads in South Carolina have to meet, summarized from the official texts. The full rules, with quotes, are on the state page.
| Topic | Status | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| Ad filing or review | P primary source | None. The rules set no filing or pre-approval. The lawyer reviews each ad before it goes out and keeps a copy or recording for two years after its last use, with a record of when and where it ran (7.2(b)). official source · rules v1.3.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23744574 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Required content | P primary source | Every ad includes the name and office address of at least one responsible lawyer (7.2(d)) and the city or town of the office where the lawyers doing the work principally practice, or the county if outside a city or town (7.2(h)). official source · rules v1.3.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23744574 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Waiting periods for contact | P primary source | 30 days. A lawyer may not solicit by direct written, recorded or electronic communication, or by in-person, telephone or real-time electronic contact, about a personal injury, wrongful death, accident or disaster unless it happened more than thirty days… official source · rules v1.3.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23744574 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Claims and results | P primary source | A communication may not create an unjustified expectation about results (7.1(b)) or compare services unless the comparison can be substantiated (7.1(c)). official source · rules v1.3.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23744574 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Paying for referrals | P primary source | A lawyer may not give anything of value to a person for recommending the lawyer's services, except the reasonable cost of permitted ads, the usual charges of a legal service plan or a not-for-profit lawyer referral service that is not itself breaking a rule,… official source · rules v1.3.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23744574 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Call recording | P primary source | A person who is a party to a call, or who has one party's prior consent, may lawfully record it (subject to the statute's exception for interceptions made to commit a crime or tort). official source · rules v1.3.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23744574 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Texting | P primary source | The South Carolina Telephone Privacy Protection Act covers calls and text or media messages to a SC residence or SC-area-code wireless number; an aggrieved person may sue for actual losses plus $1,000 per violation (up to $5,000 if willful). official source · rules v1.3.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23744574 · checked 2026-10-28 |
| Ad filing or review | P primary source | South Carolina: no filing or review of lawyer ads is required. official source · filing v1.2.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721409 · checked 2026-10-25 |
| Paying for referrals | P primary source | Lawyers in different firms may split a fee in proportion to the work each does, or if each takes joint responsibility for the representation. official source · referral v1.1.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23747113 · checked 2026-10-27 |
Prices and pay (national)
| Measure | Value | Period | Place | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jobs in legal services (seasonally adjusted) | 1,249 thousand jobs | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:CES6054110001:2026-09 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| CPI-U: legal services | 230 index | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:CUUR0000SEGC01:2026-09 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
| PPI: offices of lawyers | 338 index | 2026-09 | United States United States | legal-prices v1.0.0 doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854 record legal-prices:PCU541110541110:2026-09 · status P · checked 2026-10-28 |
What is missing
Datasets linked to this practice that have no figure here, and values the source withholds. We never fill these in.
- findings (demand): the dataset has no records for South Carolina (it covers other places)
- language (spanish): Lawyers who speak Spanish at home (ACS) (South Carolina): value withheld by the source (status U)
- language (spanish): Spanish speakers with limited English per Spanish-speaking lawyer (South Carolina): value withheld by the source (status U)
Download and cite
The rows behind this page, with every dataset, version, DOI, record id and check date.
Cite as: Probative Growth, Bankruptcy filings by chapter, court district, state and county, quarterly (U.S. Courts) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739952); The new-lawyer pipeline by jurisdiction: bar exam pass rates and new admissions, 2025 v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721443); CFPB complaints about debt collection, credit reporting and debt management, by state and month v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23733731); Legal deserts: law offices and lawyers per resident in every U.S. county v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721430); Spanish-speaking demand vs Spanish-speaking lawyer supply, by state and metro v1.1.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23656758); Law firm size, solos and receipts, by state: Census SUSB 2022, Nonemployer Statistics 2024 and Economic Census 2022 v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23739997); Law offices, jobs and pay by county, with solo-practice counts: BLS QCEW, Census CBP and Nonemployer Statistics v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23721415); Lawyer, paralegal and legal-staff pay by state and metro (BLS OEWS) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734840); Legal need by county: who may need a lawyer, from the American Community Survey v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23741886); Legal-services prices and jobs, monthly (BLS CPI, PPI and CES) v1.0.0 (doi:10.5281/zenodo.23734854); CC BY 4.0. https://probativegrowth.com/markets/south-carolina/bankruptcy/
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How this page is built
Each figure is copied from one record of the dataset named with it, joined to this state and practice through the open practice and place crosswalk. Nothing is estimated. Methods, inputs and limits.