Columbia, SC vs Greenville, SC
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Greenville spends 53.8% more per capita than Columbia ($23,197/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)
| Property Tax | $0 | $1,988 |
| Sales Tax | $623 | $643 |
| Income Tax | $42 | $1,116 |
| Intergovernmental | $6,842 | $17,967 |
| Charges & Fees | $8,276 | $0 |
| Other | $6,537 | $4,746 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Police | $0 | $4,914 |
| Fire Protection | $467 | $2,341 |
| Highways & Roads | $454 | $842 |
| Public Welfare | $433 | $1,226 |
| Health | $0 | $3,014 |
| Hospitals | $1,042 | $159 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,265 | $2,637 |
| Housing | $3,604 | $11,807 |
| Sewerage | $141 | $551 |
| Utilities | $4,665 | $3,041 |
| Other | $7,824 | $12,562 |
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.