Automation will likely widen the gap between metropolitan and rural areas.

That’s the prediction of a new study from the McKinsey Global Institute.

In the next decade, that will mean job growth in places like Columbia, Lexington, Charleston, Greenville and Spartanburg.

It also indicates more job losses in some of the state’s struggling rural counties.

The report analyzed more than 3,000 US counties and 315 cities. It found that rural and urban America are “on sharply different paths,” the Charleston Post and Courier reported.

Charleston was one of 11 cities categorized as “small powerhouses” with the fastest economic growth rates.

The Midlands including Lexington County was classified as “stable.”

Greenville and Spartan-burg were named among the top manufacturing hubs with slower growth and slightly higher unemployment than Charlotte.