Columbia, SC
Kids in Columbia
Public-school enrollment and staffing from NCES, plus bedrooms, childcare and how educated the adults already here are. This is not a GreatSchools ranking.
- Public-school students
- 181,111
- NCES CCD 2024-2025, regular and charter districts in this metro.
- Pupil–teacher ratio
- 13.7
- 13,260 teachers across 14 districts and 275 schools.
- Districts / schools
- 14 / 275
- Open regular, component and charter LEAs geocoded to this CBSA.
- Bedrooms you set
- 1
- A household this size usually wants a studio.
- Childcare in this setup
- $0
- No kids under 5 in the current household, so this is $0.
- Leftover with current kids
- $2,202
- After tax, rent and everything else.
Largest public school districts
The 12 biggest open regular and charter districts geocoded to the Columbia metro, ranked by students enrolled. District websites are the direct source for enrollment boundaries, calendars and programs.
- Richland 02
Columbia
- Students
- 28,841
- Schools
- 32
- Pupil–teacher
- 13.8
- Lexington 01
Lexington
- Students
- 27,074
- Schools
- 32
- Pupil–teacher
- 13
- Charter Institute at Erskine
Columbia
- Students
- 26,014
- Schools
- 26
- Pupil–teacher
- 16.6
- Richland 01
Columbia
- Students
- 21,814
- Schools
- 48
- Pupil–teacher
- 12.1
- SC Public Charter School District
Columbia
- Students
- 21,383
- Schools
- 44
- Pupil–teacher
- 14.7
- Lexington 05
Irmo
- Students
- 17,053
- Schools
- 23
- Pupil–teacher
- 11.7
- Kershaw 01
Camden
- Students
- 11,135
- Schools
- 17
- Pupil–teacher
- 14.7
- Lexington 02
West Columbia
- Students
- 8,465
- Schools
- 13
- Pupil–teacher
- 12.6
- Limestone Charters Association
Columbia
- Students
- 7,387
- Schools
- 13
- Pupil–teacher
- 18
- Lexington 04
Swansea
- Students
- 3,474
- Schools
- 7
- Pupil–teacher
- 13.5
- Saluda 01
Saluda
- Students
- 2,525
- Schools
- 5
- Pupil–teacher
- 14.8
- Fairfield 01
Winnsboro
- Students
- 2,103
- Schools
- 8
- Pupil–teacher
- 9.9
Source: NCES CCD 2024–25, LEA directory, membership and staff files. Pupil–teacher is students divided by reported teacher FTE.
Public schools by level
- Primary
- 138
- Elementary grades
- Middle
- 43
- Middle or junior high
- High
- 63
- Secondary grades
- Other
- 24
- K–12, ungraded, alternative
268 open public schools in the NCES CCD 2024–25 school directory, grouped by the level NCES assigns from grades offered.
Where the Columbia metro sits
Roughly the core of the Columbia, SC metro area. Drag to look around, or open the larger map to search for a specific school or neighbourhood.
School photos and ratings need a Google Places or GreatSchools key we don't ship; the district websites above are the direct source.
If this were a family of four
Two adults, two kids, one under five, three bedrooms: leftover in Columbia would be -$74 a month, with $1,104 going to childcare. Run that household on the paycheck page →
Enrollment and staffing: NCES Common Core of Data 2024-2025, joined to metros with NCES EDGE LEA geocodes. Childcare is a national baseline scaled by this metro's cost index — not a daycare quote. No test-score rankings.