Getting Around. Like many southern cities, Columbia is no place to be without a car. Bus service runs around downtown, with just a few routes that extend beyond the center of the city. However, traffic will be a breeze in most areas.
Watch Your Water. Columbia is known to have some of the best tasting water in the country. However, many older apartment complexes tend to accumulate extremely high water bills due to the common plumbing problems of older buildings. There are a few things to consider, water-wise, when deciding on your apartment. For instance, does the toilet ever stop running after you flush it? Can you hear any leaks in the faucets, showers, or in the walls? Does the apartment charge its tenants for pool water? All of these factors are likely to result in an uncomfortably high water bill.
Underground Culture. Check out these great spots for entertainment: Art Bar, the Hunter-Gatherer, Alley Cafe, summer concert series at Finlay Park, occasional music on the river, and amazing street bands playing on the corner for change during major festivals and holiday events. You can also visit New Brooklyn Tavern in the neighboring city of West Columbia for hardcore music, or catch bluegrass jams in the nearby city of Cayce.
Spare yourself the hours of research, and use this guide to find the neighborhoods that suit you best. Columbia has affordable, as well as luxurious rentals available all around the city, whether you want to live in the bright lights of downtown, or need some space with wide-open country views and dark star-gazing skies.
University Hill. Surrounded by downtown nightlife.
Congaree Vista. A renaissance on the river: beautiful parks, plenty of food, a growing music scene, and a healthy dose of art and theater, all accompanied by cold beer and cocktails.
Earlewood Park. Riverfront neighborhood of old cottages, neighborhood parks, and downtown skyline views.
Elmwood. Popular for its affordability, downtown proximity, and charming 1920's bungalows.
Cottontown. Historic homes with unique rental options.
Olympia-Grandby. Riverfront rentals and an easy walk to downtown.
Hollywood-Rose Hill. Good eats and a short walk to downtown
Waverly. An affordable and popular neighborhood.
Melrose Heights. Close proximity to downtown.
Old Shandon. Historic homes with bay windows, tons of shopping nearby, plus a quick commute to downtown entertainment.
Shandon. Tree-lined streets, distinctive architecture, and proximity to downtown and nearby shopping.
Rosewood. Complete with vintage atmosphere and uniquely Rosewood personality.
Southeast. Variety of housing options.
Arcadia Lakes. Popular for the nearby lake on a hot summer day, and its golf course.
Dentsville. Truly amazing for the scenery and nearby Sesquicentennial State Park. (Try saying that name three times fast)
Woodfield. Next door to Fort Jackson with everything you could as for in a neighborhood: lakes, a state park, a shopping center.
Forest Acres. Easy commutes to the lake or to downtown.
Spring Valley. A little farther north, complete with country club, enormous state park, tons of eats and shopping.
Greenview. Popular for its easy commute and proximity.
Eau Claire. Comes with a few parks and riverfront bike rides.
The Colony. A slew of beltline bars and plenty of affordable rentals.
Lincolnshire. Variety of different housing options here.
Denny Terrace. More rural, giving you more space.
Northwest
St. Andrews. Different housing options available.
Seven Oaks. A community just down the road from Lake Murray.
Irmo. Amazing location, with Lake Murray and the Harbison State Forest right next door.
That's the city breakdown for you. Now it's time to see it for yourself. Good luck with the hunt, and keep in mind that southern hospitality is a two-way street.
Welcome to the January 2019 Columbia Rent Report. Columbia rents declined over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Columbia rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the state and nation.
Welcome to the January 2019 Columbia Rent Report. Columbia rents declined over the past month. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Columbia rental market, including comparisons to cities throughout the state and nation.
Columbia rents have declined 0.2% over the past month, but are up moderately by 2.4% in comparison to the same time last year. Currently, median rents in Columbia stand at $840 for a one-bedroom apartment and $960 for a two-bedroom. This is the third straight month that the city has seen rent decreases after an increase in September. Columbia's year-over-year rent growth leads the state average of 1.2%, as well as the national average of 0.9%.
Throughout the past year, rent increases have been occurring not just in the city of Columbia, but across the entire state. Of the largest 10 cities that we have data for in South Carolina, all of them have seen prices rise. The state as a whole logged rent growth of 1.2% over the past year. Here's a look at how rents compare across some of the largest cities in the state.
As rents have increased moderately in Columbia, a few large cities nationwide have also seen rents grow modestly. Columbia is still more affordable than most large cities across the country.
For more information check out our national report. You can also access our full data for cities and counties across the U.S. at this link.
Data from private listing sites, including our own, tends to skew toward luxury apartments, which introduces sample bias when estimates are calculated directly from these listings. To address these limitations, we’ve recently made major updates to our methodology, which we believe have greatly improved the accuracy and reliability of our estimates.
Read more about our new methodology below, or see a more detailed post here.
Apartment List is committed to making our rent estimates the best and most accurate available. To do this, we start with reliable median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, then extrapolate them forward to the current month using a growth rate calculated from our listing data. In doing so, we use a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, comparing only units that are available across both time periods to provide an accurate picture of rent growth in cities across the country.
Our approach corrects for the sample bias inherent in other private sources, producing results that are much closer to statistics published by the Census Bureau and HUD. Our methodology also allows us to construct a picture of rent growth over an extended period of time, with estimates that are updated each month.
Read more about our methodology here.
Apartment List publishes monthly reports on rental trends for hundreds of cities across the U.S. We intend these reports to be a source of reliable information that help renters and policymakers make sound decisions, and we invest significant time and effort in gathering and analyzing rent data. Our work is covered regularly by journalists across the country.
We are continuously working to improve our methodology and data, with the goal of providing renters with the information that they need to make the best decisions.
Apartment List has released Columbia’s results from the third annual Apartment List Renter Satisfaction Survey. This survey, which drew on responses from over 45,000 renters, provides insight on what states and cities must do to meet the needs of 111 million American renters nationwide.
"Columbia renters expressed general satisfaction with the city overall," according to Apartment List. "...
Here’s how Columbia ranks on:
Apartment List has released Columbia’s results from the third annual Apartment List Renter Satisfaction Survey. This survey, which drew on responses from over 45,000 renters, provides insight on what states and cities must do to meet the needs of 111 million American renters nationwide.
"Columbia renters expressed general satisfaction with the city overall," according to Apartment List. "However, ratings varied greatly across different categories, indicating that even though renters love Columbia, some aspects can be better."
Key findings in Columbia include the following:
Renters say:
For more information on the survey methodology and findings or to speak to one of our researchers, please contact our team at rentonomics@apartmentlist.com.