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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Single-income living requires cities where one paycheck covers everything. We scored 3 cities across South Carolina on rent, cost of living, and population. Columbia ($1,459/mo, 129,330 residents) ranks #1.
129,330 residents · South Carolina
Here's Columbia by the numbers — and there's a lot to like (and a little to watch). Cost index: 85. Rent: $1,459/month. Income: $55,653/year. Home price: $226,769. Population: 129,330. The strongest category is Housing at 85; the most expensive is Healthcare at 97. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are saving renters $5,232 per year vs. the national median. That's a meaningful edge in practice.
121,469 residents · South Carolina
A closer look at North Charleston: the cost index of 98 breaks down to a Housing index of 98 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 100 (weakest). Median rent is $1,670/month — 12% below the national median — while household income sits at $62,789, meaning locals spend about 32% of income on rent. That exceeds the recommended 30% threshold — affordability here depends on earning above the median.
155,369 residents · South Carolina
Here's Charleston by the numbers — and there's a lot to like. Cost index: 124. Rent: $2,127/month. Income: $90,038/year. Home price: $581,145. Population: 155,369. The strongest category is Healthcare at 105; the most expensive is Housing at 124. Translate that rent to annual numbers, and residents are costing renters $2,784 more per year vs. the national median. That's a spread that makes moving costs look trivial.
#1 Ranked: Columbia — cost index 85, rent $1,459/mo, income $55,653
Singles scoring: rent $1,459/mo (solo housing), cost index 85, population 129,330 — livability on one income
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
| Rank | City | Cost Index | Median Rent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Columbia | 85 | $1,459 | Details |
| 2 | North Charleston | 98 | $1,670 | Details |
| 3 | Charleston | 124 | $2,127 | Details |
Single-income living requires cities where one paycheck covers everything. We scored 3 cities across South Carolina on rent, cost of living, and population. Columbia ($1,459/mo, 129,330 residents) ranks #1.
Why Columbia ranks #1: the numbers tell a clear story. At 85 on the cost index, residents save roughly 26% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,459/month while the median household pulls in $55,653/year. The Housing category is particularly strong at 85, though Healthcare (97) lags behind. Home prices average $226,769 — $240,601 below the national median.
What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. The difference between #1 and #5 is often smaller than the difference between "good on paper" and "actually fits my life." Compare your top picks with our calculator to see real take-home numbers.
Our persona scoring model weights cost, income, rent, healthcare, taxes, and city size based on what matters most to singles. Each factor scores 10-25 points out of a 100-point composite. The guide ranks every tracked city in South Carolina by this personalized metric. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Columbia ranks #1 in South Carolina for this analysis with a cost index of 85 and median income of $55,653.
Columbia scores highest for singles due to its below-average cost of living, median rent of $1,459/mo, and competitive median income of $55,653.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
Columbia (ranked #1) has a cost index of 85 and rent of $1,459/mo, while Charleston (ranked #3) has a cost index of 124 and rent of $2,127/mo — a 39-point difference in cost of living.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Columbia is $1,459/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $436 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Columbia is $226,769, which is 4.1× the local median income. It's on the edge of affordability for median-income households. The national median home price is $467,370.
South Carolina has a 6.4% state income tax rate. Combined state and local sales tax averages 7.44%, and the effective property tax rate is 0.52%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.