Charleston, SC vs Columbia, SC
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Charleston spends 19.6% more per capita than Columbia ($3,897/person difference). Columbia, SC has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 65/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $1,723 | $623 |
| Income Tax | $2,502 | $42 |
| Intergovernmental | $646 | $6,842 |
| Charges & Fees | $0 | $8,276 |
| Other | $4,635 | $6,537 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $1,726 | $467 |
| Highways & Roads | $1,309 | $454 |
| Public Welfare | $902 | $433 |
| Health | $2,099 | $0 |
| Hospitals | $0 | $1,042 |
| Parks & Recreation | $3,903 | $1,265 |
| Housing | $5,779 | $3,604 |
| Sewerage | $191 | $141 |
| Utilities | $2,955 | $4,665 |
| General Admin | $625 | $0 |
| Other | $4,305 | $7,824 |
Compare More Cities
The side-by-side above pulls the the Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances data for both entity A and entity B. What follows is the interpretation — which specific axes carry the most weight for entity A versus entity B, and which differences are large enough to influence a real decision.
Practical use of the comparison: read the data above, then drill into the individual entity A and entity B detail pages for the underlying breakdown. A pairwise comparison answers the relative question; the per-entity pages answer the absolute question.
Source: Census Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, 2026.