Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC Metro Area

The Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC metro area is made up of 2 counties in South Carolina: Beaufort and Jasper. About 242,966 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 12.5% more than in April 2020.

Beaufort County, centralJasper County, outlyingHilton Head IslandBlufftonPort Royal
Central Outlying 2 counties in South Carolina
Population, July 2025
242,966 12.5% more than in April 2020
Type
Metropolitan statistical area
Counties
2: 1 central, 1 outlying
Land area
1,231 sq mi (3,189 km²)
Time zone
Eastern TimeUTC-05:00 in January; UTC-04:00 in July
State
South Carolina
CBSA code
25940

Counties in the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC metro area, largest first

CountyRolePopulation, July 2025Share of the area
Beaufort CountyCentral204,43384.1%
Jasper CountyOutlying38,53315.9%

A central county holds the area’s core, an urban area of at least 50,000 people. An outlying county is in the area because of commuting: at least a quarter of its workers have jobs in the central county, or at least a quarter of the people working there live in them. A county belongs to one metro or micro area at most, and it counts whole, countryside included.

Principal cities, largest first

  1. Hilton Head Island37,911 people
  2. Bluffton33,157 people
  3. Port Royal15,579 people
  4. Beaufort13,747 people

OMB names the area after its largest principal cities. A principal city is the area’s largest city, plus any other city that is very large or a big job center, and smaller ones with at least as many jobs as working residents (2020 Census and commuting figures). People counts are American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.

Bordering metro and micro areas, nearest first

Areas with a county on this area’s edge. Distances are straight lines between the areas’ largest cities.

  1. Savannah, GA Metro Area29 mi southwest

Before using this answer on a form

A metro or micro area is a statistical area that OMB draws for federal statistics. It is not a city, a local government or a mailing address, and it is not a measure of urban and rural: whole counties count, rural parts included. Programs that use metro areas, such as housing income limits or wage rates, can use their own version of these lists; check the program’s own list for an address.

Find the metro area where you are now, find your county, or see every metro and micro area by population.

See this area on Census.gov ↗