Columbia, SC vs Summerville, SC
Side-by-side fiscal comparison · U.S. Census Bureau data (2023)
Summary
Columbia spends 100.0% more per capita than Summerville ($9,950/person difference). Summerville, SC has the stronger Fiscal Health Score (B, 67/100).
Fiscal Health Score
Key Metrics
Per Capita Spending by Department
Revenue Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Sales Tax | $623 | $92 |
| Income Tax | $42 | $0 |
| Intergovernmental | $6,842 | $4,202 |
| Charges & Fees | $8,276 | $2,363 |
| Other | $6,537 | $971 |
Spending Breakdown (Per Capita)
| Fire Protection | $467 | $152 |
| Highways & Roads | $454 | $527 |
| Public Welfare | $433 | $0 |
| Hospitals | $1,042 | $0 |
| Parks & Recreation | $1,265 | $631 |
| Housing | $3,604 | $2,315 |
| Sewerage | $141 | $153 |
| Utilities | $4,665 | $2,819 |
| Other | $7,824 | $3,350 |
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.