Metro Life Score
Columbia, SC
Bottom-quartile composite Life Score — grade C-, 16th percentile of the national corpus.
- 41.2
- Life Score / 100
- C-
- Grade (curved)
- #324
- of 387 metros
- 16%
- composite percentile
Data updated August 2026
Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census · Report a data issue · Data changelog
The verdict
Columbia is bottom-quartile composite Life Score — #324 of 387 (41.2/100, grade C-, 16th percentile). Carried by childcare at 71/100; held back most by environment at 7/100.
- 16th
- composite percentile
- #324
- of 387 peers
- 49th
- cost dimension percentile
- 50th
- wages dimension percentile
Life Score shape · LOWER · BALANCED · signature composite
Columbia: bottom-third composite — where the drag concentrates
Columbia sits in the bottom third of the metro corpus on composite (#324 of 387, 41.2/100, 16th percentile). Stamps LOWER · BALANCED; Environment at 7/100 is the main drag; Childcare (71/100) keeps the floor. Cost/wage marks MID/MID. According to PlainCompare's federal Life Score corpus ranking, Columbia, SC ranks #324 of 387 metros by composite Life Score (highest = #1) and #198 of 387 by cost-of-living dimension score (highest = #1). Methodology.
BEA RPP 93.7 (rent-RPP 79.5). BLS median salary $64,117, 383,170 jobs (Fast Food and Counter Workers, Retail Salespersons, Customer Service Representatives). HUD 2BR FMR $1,276/mo (studio $1,032).
FBI UCR (SC): 439 violent, 1988 property/100K. NCES: 13.8:1 ratio, 7.2% charter. DOL infant childcare $7,732/yr. EPA: 34 Superfund sites (SC).
Where Columbia sits among all US metros
Composite Life Score vs the national field
41 16th percentile higher than 16% of 387 US metros
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. 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 PlainCompare composite of BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA data · August 2026
How the 41.2 is built
Columbia's Life Score, decomposed
Dimension detail
How Columbia scores, dimension by dimension
Score Breakdown
Dimension Scores
Key Data Points
Geography used: crime, schools, childcare, and environment cards above are SC state-level when metro-specific feeds are unavailable, see the scope key at the top of this page.
Compare Columbia With...
Ranking Context
Columbia outranks 16% of U.S. metros.
| Rank | Metro | Score | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| #321 | Cleveland, TN | 41.3 | C- |
| #322 | Pittsfield, MA | 41.4 | C- |
| #323 | Greeley, CO | 41.8 | C- |
| #324 | Columbia, SC | 41.2 | C- |
| #325 | New Haven, CT | 41.2 | C- |
| #326 | Boulder, CO | 41.1 | C- |
| #327 | Chico, CA | 41.1 | C- |
Quality vs. Affordability
Columbia, SC is bottom 17% lowest-quality nationally and also bottom 49% least affordable -- a rarer combination among its composite-quality peers, where overall rank and affordability rank usually diverge more than this.
SC Metro Scores
Read with Columbia
Nearest composite peers and cost poles for Columbia (LOWER · BALANCED · MID/MID), replacing the fixed Explore/Guides strip.
New Haven, CT
ABS(composite) peer at 41.2 (Δ 0.0 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · BALANCED · MID/MID.
Cleveland, TN
ABS(composite) peer at 41.3 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); higher Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · BALANCED · MID/MID.
Boulder, CO
ABS(composite) peer at 41.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · BALANCED · MID/MID.
Chico, CA
ABS(composite) peer at 41.1 (Δ 0.1 vs this metro); lower Life Score · grade C- vs this page's LOWER · BALANCED · MID/MID.
Janesville-Beloit, WI (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 49/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC (cost pole)
ABS(cost_score) orthogonal peer at 49/100 (Δ 0); cost stamp MID vs this metro's MID.
Columbia, SC relocation guide
Stamp-branched guide for LOWER · BALANCED · MID/MID - how to read federal Life Score inputs before a move.
Using Columbia's bottom-third Life Score
Columbia scores 41.2/100 overall, but Childcare (70.9) and Environment (7.0) sit 63.9 points apart, so decide which of the two matters more to you before leaning on the total.
- Childcare is the strongest of Columbia's seven dimensions (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is your priority, this is where the metro earns its rank. See all seven dimensions
- Environment is the weakest (weighted 10% in the composite); if it is a dealbreaker, weigh it before the ranking does. Rank metros on the composite
- Florence is the nearest comparison this page can offer; put the two side by side on the same seven dimensions. Compare with Florence
A low composite is a weighted blend; individual dimensions can still be strong.