Is Columbia more livable than Charleston? See how new report compares them & other SC & US cities
A new report ranks five South Carolina cities roughly in the middle of 149 cities for livability, with Charleston being ranked the highest at 64.
Charleston was ranked No. 2 in the country for socioeconomics, but 82 for quality of life and 80 for location and community. Charleston has repeatedly topped various lists of best places to live by national magazines and organizations, including Travel + Leisure, WalletHub, House Beautiful as well as best place to retire by Forbes and best beaches by Southern Living.
RentCafe.com’s annual Most Livable Metro Areas report ranked Columbia at 106, Myrtle Beach 74, Greenville 76 and Spartanburg 84.
The report ranked Columbia 100 for socioeconomics, 124 for quality of life and 37 for location and community.
Columbia was recently cited by the National Board of Realtors as one of the few cities in SC that will experience an increase in home value.
The report did not provide additional information on cities outside the top 10.
Washington, D.C. was the top ranked city in all categories.
“Washington, D.C.’s focus on wellness and ongoing revitalization efforts helped it climb from seventh place last year to the top spot,” The report stated.
The report cited networking opportunities, historic landmarks, healthcare providers, and green spaces and athletic fields as factors.
Portland, Maine, was second and Kansas City, Missouri, third.
The Midwest had six metros areas in the top 20, Northeast and West had five metros each and the South had four.
Top 10 metro areas in U.S.
The top 10 were:
Washington, D.C.
Portland, Maine
Kansas City, Missouri
Des Moines, Iowa
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Albany, New York
Columbus, Ohio
Asheville, North Carolina
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Boise, Idaho.
Survey metrics
The survey looked at 17 metrics including cost of living, access to health care, and the unemployment rate. The share of higher educated residents and availability of social clubs/organizations were also considered.
The information comes from Yardi Matrix, Cost of Living Index, U.S. Census Bureau, Census Business Dynamics, County Health Rankings, as of September 2025.