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Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

Columbia, SC
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Columbia profile


Living in Columbia



Columbia is a larger medium-sized city located in the state of South Carolina. With a population of 139,698 people and 85 constituent neighborhoods, Columbia is the second largest community in South Carolina.

Columbia is a military town: the armed forces employs 10.16% of the workforce, making the military a major focus of life in the city. In the civilian sector, Education and Healthcare are important in the local economy and are the city’s largest civilian employers, employing 12.99% and 12.90% of the civilian workforce respectively.

Also of interest is that Columbia has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Columbia is a nice balance between life in a moderately big city and the interesting diversions and culture that come from having a big college student population. The thousands of students who arrive on campus every fall will find that Columbia has plenty of amenities and opportunities for them, while residents of Columbia enjoy the lectures, music, art, and economic trickle-down that colleges typically provide. "Town and Gown" complement each other in Columbia.

Not only is Columbia a city with many college students, but it also retains many recent graduates who are looking to start new careers, shaping the character of the city into a place that is geared toward, and considered attractive to, many single, educated people. Many singles consider Columbia a good place to live without being in a really big city, with opportunities for friendships and fun with others like themselves.

One of the benefits of Columbia is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 18.68 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.

Columbia is one of the most well-educated cities in the nation. 44.71% of adults in Columbia have at least a bachelor's degree. Compare that to the average community in America, which has just 21.84% with a bachelor's degree or higher.

The per capita income in Columbia in 2018 was $32,954, which is upper middle income relative to South Carolina and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $131,816 for a family of four. However, Columbia contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

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

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