South Carolina was among the fastest-growing states last year.

The state’s population grew by just more than 1.7 percent to 4.3 million people, according to population estimates released by the Census Bureau today.

That was the 10th-fastest rate of growth among the states from 2005 to 2006, outpacing the nation and the South as a whole.

Michael McFarlane, the state demographer in the Office of Research and Statistics, said South Carolina is attractive to people moving from states such as New York and New Jersey.

“They send us more than we send them,” he said.

Most of those people are moving to the coast. For example, McFarlane said, 80 percent of the people moving into Beaufort County are from out of state.

However, he said, people moving between South Carolina and Georgia or between South Carolina and North Carolina balances out.

York County has seen big growth because of spillover from Charlotte, McFarlane said, and the I-85 corridor in the Upstate is attracting new residents because of the job market.

Little growth is resulting from S.C. birth rates, he said.

It is hard to tell what kind of impact immigration has had simply because the immigrant population is hard to count, McFarlane said.

Among the other states, Arizona ended Nevada’s 19-year reign as the nation’s fastest-growing state, fueled by immigrants’ and Americans’ moving from other states.

At the other end of the scale, Louisiana lost nearly 220,000 people — more than any other state — in the year following Hurricane Katrina.

Arizona led the nation with a population growth rate of 3.6 percent in the past year, followed by Nevada, Idaho, Georgia and Texas.

The Census Bureau estimates annual state population totals using local records of births and deaths, IRS records of people moving within the United States and census statistics on immigrants.

It does not distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants, and most experts believe that the number of illegal immigrants is underestimated.

Among the findings for 2006:

• Texas gained the most people, followed by Florida, California, Georgia and Arizona.

• North Carolina broke into the top 10 in total population, nudging New Jersey to 11th.

• Four states and the District of Columbia lost population: Louisiana, New York, Rhode Island and Michigan.

• The South had a net gain of a half-million people relocating there from other parts of the U.S., while the Northeast had a net loss of 375,000 people and the Midwest lost 184,000.

Reach Phillips at (803) 771-8307. The Associated Press contributed.

State population changes

The 10 fastest-growing states from 2005 to 2006, based on U.S. Census Bureau estimates released today. Listed are the July 2006 population estimates, with the percent changes from 2005:

* Estimate

SOURCE: Census Bureau