† Citizen voting-age population estimated for prior cycles; 2004 predates the ACS and is extrapolated. Source: ACS 5-year, table B05003.
——
D+60R+60
11 counties by 2024 margin · County returns · MIT Election Lab
People and households
Who lives here
Exact values for this place, its state, and the United States.
Race · ethnicity · ancestry
Communities and origins
GroupColumbia, SCSouth CarolinaUnited States
English9.3%12.1%9.5%
German8.8%9.4%12.5%
Irish6.8%9.1%9.4%
American6.2%8.2%5.3%
Italian2.4%3.4%4.8%
Scotch-Irish1.7%1.4%—
Scottish1.7%2.1%1.3%
French0.8%1.1%1.6%
African American†34.8%23.4%9.9%
African1.2%0.6%0.5%
Jamaican0.4%0.2%0.4%
Mexican2.9%3.4%11.3%
Puerto Rican1.1%1.0%1.8%
Honduran0.5%0.4%0.3%
Guatemalan0.3%0.3%0.5%
Cuban0.2%0.3%0.7%
Colombian0.2%0.4%0.4%
Asian Indian0.7%0.5%1.4%
Chinese0.3%0.2%1.3%
Filipino0.3%0.3%0.9%
Korean0.2%—0.4%
Hispanic or Latino counts residents of any race; the race groups count only their non-Hispanic residents, so the groups are mutually exclusive and sum to 100%. Expand a row to see ancestries reported within that group.
Age and life stage
Measure
Columbia, SC
South Carolina
United States
Median age
38.3
40.5
39.1
Age 18–24
10.9%
9.1%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
17.1%
18.9%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Columbia, SC
South Carolina
United States
Median household income
$64,520
$69,324
$84,427
Poverty rate
15.6%
14.1%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
32.0%
32.1%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Columbia, SC
South Carolina
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
7.8%
8.4%
22.3%
Spanish
4.6%
5.2%
13.6%
Religious landscape
Measure
Columbia, SC
South Carolina
United States
Catholic
5.7%
8.0%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
26.3%
28.6%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
45.1%
47.5%
51.5%
Mainline Protestant
10.8%
7.4%
5.2%
Black Protestant
8.4%
5.8%
2.2%
American Community Survey 2024 5-year (CVAP, income, age, poverty, education, language, race, ancestry) · presidential returns from MIT Election Lab through 2024 · 2020 U.S. Religion Census (ASARB) — congregational adherents; unclaimed is the residual not counted by congregations.
Columbia, SC, South Carolina
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1892–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
1892
+59.9%
1896
+76.0%
1900
+89.4%
1904
+90.0%
1908
+85.9%
1912
+94.2%
1916
+89.4%
1920
+87.5%
1924
+95.0%
1928
+87.6%
1932
+97.8%
1936
+98.4%
1940
+95.1%
1944
+87.9%
1948
+13.0%
1952
−22.2%
1956
+8.7%
1960
−17.7%
1964
−28.0%
1968
−7.1%
1972
−37.0%
1976
+5.4%
1980
−5.4%
1984
−22.7%
1988
−19.0%
1992
−1.5%
1996
+1.4%
2000
−6.4%
2004
−3.7%
2008
+5.9%
2012
+7.7%
2016
+4.7%
2020
+7.4%
2024
+1.0%
DemocraticRepublican
34 presidential elections
Third column names the leading third-party or independent finisher. Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024). Swing · margin change from the prior cycle. vs U.S. · margin relative to the national result that year.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Other
Margin
Swing
vs U.S.
Total
D
49.7%Harris256,488
48.7%Trump251,166
1.6%
D+1.0
R+6.4
D+2.5
515,655
D
53.0%Biden284,031
45.6%Trump244,156
1.4%
D+7.4
D+2.7
D+3.0
535,640
D
50.2%Clinton236,404
45.5%Trump214,259
4.2%
D+4.7
R+3.0
D+2.6
470,544
D
53.2%Obama244,836
45.5%Romney209,391
1.2%
D+7.7
D+1.8
D+3.9
459,916
D
52.5%Obama239,104
46.6%McCain212,309
1.0%
D+5.9
D+9.6
R+1.4
455,835
R
47.7%Kerry182,272
51.4%Bush196,405
0.9%
R+3.7
D+2.7
R+1.2
382,154
R
45.7%Gore152,938
52.1%Bush174,420
2.2%
R+6.4
R+7.8
R+6.9
334,611
D
48.1%Clinton132,944
46.7%Dole129,080
5.1%
D+1.4
D+2.9
R+7.1
276,123
R
44.4%Clinton134,250
45.8%Bush138,667
9.8%
R+1.5
D+17.5
R+7.0
302,577
R
39.7%Dukakis96,701
58.7%Bush142,851
1.6%
R+19.0
D+3.8
R+11.2
243,347
R
37.9%Mondale91,737
60.7%Reagan146,648
1.4%
R+22.7
R+17.4
R+4.5
241,738
R
46.0%Carter100,447
51.3%Reagan112,165
2.7%
R+5.4
R+10.8
D+4.4
218,517
D
52.4%Carter104,843
47.0%Ford94,033
0.6%
D+5.4
D+42.4
D+3.3
200,079
R
30.8%McGovern53,484
67.8%Nixon117,640
1.4%
R+37.0
R+29.9
R+13.8
173,477
R
32.9%Humphrey53,497
40.0%Nixon65,021
27.2%
R+7.1
D+20.9
R+6.4
162,709
R
36.0%Johnson45,155
64.0%Goldwater80,281
0.0%
R+28.0
R+10.3
R+50.6
125,437
R
41.1%Kennedy34,823
58.9%Nixon49,830
0.0%
R+17.7
R+26.4
R+17.9
84,653
O
32.2%Stevenson20,228
23.5%Eisenhower14,784
44.3%
Other +12.1
D+30.9
D+24.1
62,846
R
38.9%Stevenson28,162
61.1%Eisenhower44,277
0.0%
R+22.2
R+35.2
R+11.5
72,439
O
17.0%Truman5,359
4.1%Dewey1,276
78.9%
Thurmond +61.9
R+74.9
D+8.5
31,488
D
90.1%Roosevelt21,080
2.2%Dewey524
7.7%
D+87.9
R+7.2
D+80.4
23,398
D
97.5%Roosevelt16,145
2.5%Willkie407
0.0%
D+95.1
R+3.3
D+85.1
16,552
D
98.4%Roosevelt23,345
0.0%Landon0
1.6%
D+98.4
D+0.6
D+74.2
23,721
D
97.8%Roosevelt17,760
0.0%Hoover0
2.2%
D+97.8
D+10.1
D+80.0
18,161
D
93.8%Smith13,993
6.2%Hoover919
0.0%
D+87.6
R+7.3
D+105.1
14,917
D
96.9%Davis12,095
1.9%Coolidge233
1.3%
D+95.0
D+7.5
D+120.2
12,487
D
93.7%Cox15,209
6.2%Harding1,004
0.1%
D+87.5
R+1.9
D+113.7
16,228
D
93.9%Wilson15,340
4.5%Hughes731
1.6%
D+89.4
R+4.8
D+86.3
16,334
D
94.2%Wilson10,567
0.0%Taft0
5.8%
D+94.2
D+8.4
D+74.7
11,214
D
92.8%Bryan15,714
7.0%Taft1,177
0.2%
D+85.9
R+4.1
D+95.4
16,932
D
95.0%Parker13,656
5.0%Roosevelt721
0.0%
D+90.0
D+0.5
D+109.6
14,377
D
94.7%Bryan10,749
5.3%McKinley599
0.0%
D+89.4
D+13.5
D+97.0
11,348
D
87.8%Bryan13,361
11.8%McKinley1,797
0.4%
D+76.0
D+16.0
D+82.0
15,222
D
78.9%Cleveland12,276
19.0%Harrison2,952
2.1%
D+59.9
—
D+58.3
15,561
voter registration
Registered voters
Total registered voters, over time
Registered voters
Voter registration in Columbia, SC
Year
Total registered
2016
702,661
2018
775,013
2020
826,216
2022
788,390
2024
795,432
domestic migration
Who moves in and out
Net domestic migration over time
+6,677 net domestic migration · 2025
20112025
Net +55,146 over 2011–2025 · gain loss
Domestic migration in Columbia, SC in Columbia, SC: net domestic migration by year
Year
Net domestic migration
2011
−4
2012
+773
2013
+1,504
2014
+2,366
2015
+3,317
2016
+3,078
2017
+2,600
2018
+2,233
2019
+2,585
2021
+6,455
2022
+8,884
2023
+7,677
2024
+7,001
2025
+6,677
The Columbia DMA anchors South Carolina's Midlands, blending a large state-government workforce, two major universities, and Fort Jackson — the Army's largest basic-training post — into an electorate that swings differently than the coast or Upstate.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 98.4 points in 1936 and a Republican high of 37.0 points in 1972. Between 2020 and 2024 the market moved 6.4 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 1.0 points.
A population of 1,122,746, a 51% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $64,520 describe the market. The market's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of Memphis and Jackson, MS.
Akashic
Political twins — media markets
The media markets whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Columbia, SC, South Carolina. Akashic. https://akashic.app/dma/546/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
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How did Columbia, SC, South Carolina vote in 2024?
In 2024, Columbia, SC, South Carolina voted Democratic by 1.0 points (D+1.0), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 515,655 votes cast, 256,488 went Democratic and 251,166 went Republican.
When did Columbia, SC, South Carolina last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Columbia, SC, South Carolina voted Republican was 2004.
How many people live in Columbia, SC, South Carolina?
Columbia, SC, South Carolina has a population of 1,122,746 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Columbia, SC, South Carolina?
Median household income in Columbia, SC, South Carolina is $64,520 — below the national median of $80,734. The South Carolina state median is $69,324.
What is the political history of Columbia, SC, South Carolina?
Akashic tracks 34 presidential elections in Columbia, SC, South Carolina from 1892 to 2024. Of those, 21 went Democratic and 11 went Republican.
