Sumter ( SUM-tər) is a city in and the county seat of Sumter County, South Carolina, United States. Known as the Sumter Metropolitan Statistical Area, the namesake county adjoins Clarendon and Lee to form the core of Sumter-Lee-Clarendon Tri-county (or East Midlands) area of South Carolina that includes three counties straddling the link up of the Sandhills (or Midlands), Pee Dee, and Lowcountry regions. The population was 43,463 at the 2020 census.

Incorporated as Sumterville in 1845, the city’s publicize was reduced to Sumter in 1855. It has grown and prospered from its prematurely beginnings as a plantation settlement. The city and county of Sumter bear the state of General Thomas Sumter, the “Fighting Gamecock” of the American Revolutionary War.

During the Civil War, the town was an important supply and railroad repair middle for the Confederacy. After the war, Sumter grew and prospered, using its large railroad network to supply cotton, timber, and by the start of the 20th century, tobacco to the region.

During the 20th century, Sumter grew into a major industrial center. Still a unique event founded in 1923, Palmetto Pigeon Plant has grown into one of the largest producers of squab, poussin(chicken), cornish game hen, and silkie chickens in the world. Starting like the initiation of Shaw Air Force Base (now house to the 9th Air Force, 20th Fighter Wing, and United States Army Central) in 1941, industry grew, especially after World War II. Sumter became increasingly known for textiles, manufacturing, biotech industries, a booming retail environment, and medical middle of its region in auxiliary to agricultural products, which makes it a hub for issue in the east-central share of South Carolina.