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Place dossier plate
SheetSC-WEST-COLUMBIA-SC · West Columbia, SC 17,723 pop · income 26th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around West Columbia
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest West Columbia on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Troy · lowest
47,595
Troy · lowest
47,595 median HH income
32.8% of the leader · rank #1
West Columbia · this city
54,152
West Columbia · this city
54,152 median HH income
37.3% of the leader · rank #2
New Albany · near
54,152
New Albany · near
54,152 median HH income
37.3% of the leader · rank #3
Iaeger · near
54,152
Iaeger · near
54,152 median HH income
37.3% of the leader · rank #4
Havana · near
54,153
Havana · near
54,153 median HH income
37.3% of the leader · rank #5
Holyoke · near
54,154
Holyoke · near
54,154 median HH income
37.3% of the leader · rank #6
North Valley… · highest
145,204
North Valley… · highest
145,204 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for West Columbia on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 17,723.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
West Columbia - the verdict
Nationally, West Columbia sits in the 26th percentile for household income and the 3rd percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
26th
percentile, household income
39th
percentile, home value
46th
percentile, median rent
3rd
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: West Columbia, SC
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 17,723 residents in West Columbia, a small town within South Carolina. Households in West Columbia report a median income of $54,152 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.6%. Home values in West Columbia run a median of $186,200, and the median resident age is 37.2 years. Educational attainment runs 38.1% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 60.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 59 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 38% from five years earlier. West Columbia's reported crime rate runs above the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 5185.3 in FBI UCR data, above the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in South Carolina run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts South Carolina at 93.7 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,155 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in South Carolina run around $224, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Commute times here average 16.6 minutes, with 79.8% driving alone and 8.1% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 70.7 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of West Columbia's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from schools and households to housing and income to work and mobility to population change to comparison shortlist to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For West Columbia, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for West Columbia?
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 14 public schools within the city match. 38.1% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
How far does income reach against housing in West Columbia?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
What does the journey to work look like in West Columbia?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 79.8%. The reported mean trip to work is 16.6 minutes.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Which cities make useful reference points for West Columbia?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within South Carolina, the closest population matches are Clemson (17,759 residents, $49,713 income); Berea (16,642 residents, $48,104 income); Red Hill (16,480 residents, $62,132 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Calverton, MD (17,721 residents); Troy, AL (17,733 residents); Godfrey, IL (17,743 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Population change
Is West Columbia growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1,000 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +5.7% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 59 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
2020 estimate
17,489
2025 estimate
18,489
Period change
+5.7%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What can the FBI record say about safety in West Columbia?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 5185.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 127% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
5185.3
Violent rate
747.7
Property rate
4437.6
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Below median income · poverty 7.6% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
93.7 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, South Carolina average
D
City profile score · West Columbia, SC
42/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share B
38.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living B
93.7 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate D
7.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$54,152
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime F
748 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
West Columbia profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 72/100 (B) · 38.1%
Cost of living: 70/100 (B) · 93.7 index
Poverty rate: 49/100 (D) · 7.6%
Household income: 26/100 (F) · $54,152
Violent crime: 4/100 (F) · 748 /100k
Where West Columbia sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
West Columbia's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - West Columbia highlighted among 26 peers.Read the chart values
West Columbia, SC (this city): home $186,200, crime 5,185/100k
Troy, AL : home $214,100, crime 3,996/100k
North Canton, OH : home $194,200, crime 1,149/100k
Holly Springs, GA : home $414,700, crime 490/100k
Clemson, SC : home $359,100, crime 2,149/100k
North Myrtle Beach, SC : home $371,900, crime 3,584/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does West Columbia compare to other US cities?
Where West Columbia sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income26% higher than other cities
Home value39% pricier than other cities
Median rent46% pricier than other cities
Safety3% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at South Carolina, West Columbia ranks #100 of 127 South Carolina cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares West Columbia against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to South Carolina only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
South Carolina-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places West Columbia near the bottom of South Carolina's cities
Among the 441 South Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, West Columbia ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares West Columbia only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#180 of 403
55th percentile in South Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 441
0th percentile in South Carolina
Median Home Value
#155 of 404
62nd percentile in South Carolina
Poverty Rate
#303 of 439
31st percentile in South Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#64 of 441
85th percentile in South Carolina
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within South Carolina only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
26th percentile nationally for median household income · 3rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
West Columbia's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
West Columbia's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How West Columbia's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$186,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 61% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
West Columbia's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#8,731 of 15,516
More affordable than 44% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,430 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.4×, West Columbia sits in the moderate band:
national rank #8,731 of 15,516 and #1,430 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$54,152West Columbia, SC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context West Columbia, SC median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for West Columbia, SC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)38.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)7.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
17,723
Median Income
$54,152
Median Home Value
$186,200
Median Age
37.2
Poverty Rate
7.6%
Labor force participation
60.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
38.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
5185.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
747.7
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
4437.6
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
14
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
West Columbia's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
17,489 residents
2021
17,672 residents
2022
17,785 residents
2023
18,407 residents
2024
18,440 residents
2025
18,489 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
59
housing units authorized
Single-Family
57
detached homes
Multifamily
2
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
3.3
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
95
34
61
$12.2M
2020
83
38
45
$11.9M
2021
106
45
61
$14.6M
2022
334
18
316
$51.6M
2023
29
29
0
$9.0M
2024
59
57
2
$8.9M
Permit volume decreased 38% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
16.6 minutes
Drive Alone
79.8%
Carpool
7.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.0%
Work from Home
8.1%
Other
3.6%
Based on 8,969 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
South Carolina statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $224
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across South Carolina at $224 (electricity about $130 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are South Carolina statewide averages, not a meter reading for West Columbia. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
South Carolina's BEA cost-of-living index is 93.7 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around West Columbia is $1,155/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to South Carolina statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 70.7 / 100 (High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a South Carolina statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county West Columbia sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How West Columbia compares to similar-size South Carolina cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.