Sumter is a medium-sized city located in the state of South Carolina. With a population of 42,766 people and 20 associated neighborhoods, Sumter is the ninth largest community in South Carolina.

Sumter is a military town: the armed forces employs 6.11% of the workforce, making the military a major focus of life in the city. In the civilian sector, Healthcare and Manufacturing are important in the local economy and are the city’s largest civilian employers, employing 15.61% and 14.73% of the civilian workforce respectively.

The overall education level of Sumter is somewhat higher than in the average US city of 21.84%: 28.57% of adults 25 and older in the city have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Sumter in 2022 was $28,682, which is middle income relative to South Carolina, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $114,728 for a family of four. However, Sumter contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Sumter is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Sumter home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Sumter residents report their race to be Black or African-American, followed by White. Important ancestries of people in Sumter include English, German, Irish, Italian, and Polish.

The most common language spoken in Sumter is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.