According to a study conducted by the Regional Economics Analysis Laboratory at Clemson University’s Storm Thurmond Institute, the school generated approximately $1.9 billion in economic output for South Carolina last year, and its activities accounted for nearly 25,000 jobs.
The study showed that Clemson’s net impact on the state’s government revenue was $81.8 million more than its state appropriation, and its net return to local governments was $128.2 million.
“In other words, Clemson is a net funder of state and local government, generating millions of dollars more in economic output than it receives in annual appropriations,” said Rob Carey, director of the Regional Economics Analysis Laboratory at the Strom Thurmond Institute at Clemson.
Local governments netted $65.6 million in revenue. Clemson’s economic impact in the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson Combined Statistical Area (CSA) was $1.647 billion in 2013 and it generated 21,454 jobs, $874 million in disposable income and $106.1 million for local governments. In the tri-county region of Anderson, Oconee and Pickens, Clemson’s economic output was $896.9 million. It generated 13,315 jobs and disposable income of $587.1 million.
According to Carey, the study did not include the impact of nearly 60,000 Clemson alumni who live in the state, nor the jobs created by private companies located at innovation campuses in Greenville, Charleston and Anderson.
