It should not be confused with Fort Sumter, which is in Charleston harbor, almost 100 miles away.
As of 2007, there were 39,159 people, 14,717 households, and 10,049 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,469.5 people per square mile (575.6/km²). There were 16,032 housing units at an average density of 603.0/sq mi (232.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 44.74% White, 49.88% African American, 0.24% Native American, 1.62% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 1.12% from other races, and 1.41% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.98% of the population.
There were 14,564 households out of which 35.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.0% were married couples living together, 19.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.0% were non-families. 27.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.14.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.6% under the age of 18, 12.28% from 18 to 24, 26.04% from 25 to 44, 19.55% from 45 to 64, and 14.12% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.3 years. For every 100 females there were 89.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $19,264, and the median income for a family was $35,328. Males had a median income of $27,078 versus $22,002 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,949. About 13.0% of families and 16.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.8% of those under age 18 and 15.3% of those age 65 or over.
The following table shows Sumter's crime rate in 6 crimes that Morgan Quitno uses for their calculation for "America's most dangerous cities" ranking, in comparison to the national average. The statistics provided are not for the actual amount of crimes committed, but how many crimes committed Per Capita.
According to the Congressional Quarterly Press '2008 City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America, Sumter Statistical Metropolitan Area ranks as having the 5th highest overall crime rate out of 338 statistical metropolitan area's in the United States of America.