Columbia vs St. Andrews

A side-by-side comparison of Columbia and St. Andrews: population, income, housing, and more.

Columbia and St. Andrews are places in South Carolina. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Columbia has the higher population (138,019 vs 20,953 in St. Andrews). Columbia has the higher median household income ($55,653 vs $45,321 in St. Andrews). Columbia has the higher median home value ($243,500 vs $146,700 in St. Andrews).

Population, income & housing

	Columbia	St. Andrews
Population	138,019	20,953
Median age	28.7 yrs	31.7 yrs
Median household income	$55,653	$45,321
Median home value	$243,500	$146,700
Median gross rent	$1,158	$1,060
Housing units	60,568	11,730
Homeownership rate	47.3%	29.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	46.1%	25.8%
Unemployment rate	7.6%	8.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Columbia	St. Andrews
Population	133,273 → 138,019 (+3.6%)	20,990 → 20,953 (-0.2%)
Median household income	$47,286 → $55,653 (+17.7%)	$37,042 → $45,321 (+22.4%)
Median home value	$181,100 → $243,500 (+34.5%)	$100,500 → $146,700 (+46.0%)
Median gross rent	$933 → $1,158 (+24.1%)	$875 → $1,060 (+21.1%)

Columbia

Population

133,273138,019

Median household income

$47,286$55,653

Median home value

$181,100$243,500

Median gross rent

$933$1,158

St. Andrews

Population

20,99020,953

Median household income

$37,042$45,321

Median home value

$100,500$146,700

Median gross rent

$875$1,060

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Columbia	St. Andrews
Under 5	5.4%	7.8%
5 to 17	11.7%	14.6%
18 to 24	25.5%	12.2%
25 to 34	17.6%	20.5%
35 to 44	10.9%	12.7%
45 to 54	9.5%	9.1%
55 to 64	8.5%	10.7%
65 to 74	6.8%	8.0%
75 and over	4.2%	4.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Columbia	St. Andrews
White (non-Hispanic)	47.9%	20.9%
Black or African American	39.0%	68.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	2.6%	2.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.2%	0.0%
Some other race	0.5%	0.3%
Two or more races	4.0%	4.1%
Hispanic or Latino	5.7%	4.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Columbia	St. Andrews
No high school diploma	9.1%	8.4%
High school graduate	19.2%	31.3%
Some college or associate's	25.5%	34.4%
Bachelor's degree	25.2%	15.6%
Graduate or professional degree	20.9%	10.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Columbia	St. Andrews
Drove alone	62.9%	78.0%
Carpooled	6.9%	6.1%
Public transit	1.4%	1.4%
Walked	16.4%	1.5%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.0%
Worked from home	9.8%	9.7%
Other means	2.2%	3.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Columbia	St. Andrews
1-unit, detached	51.3%	30.6%
1-unit, attached	6.1%	7.1%
2 to 4 units	10.3%	16.5%
5 to 19 units	14.6%	36.9%
20 or more units	16.6%	8.6%
Mobile home & other	1.0%	0.3%

Poverty & households

	Columbia	St. Andrews
Poverty rate	23.3%	23.5%
Average household size	2.16	2.05
Mean commute (minutes)	17	21
Median year structure built	1978	1978