Columbia, SC Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Columbia, SC - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Columbia, SC moved from $45,380 in May 2024 to $46,430 in May 2025 (+2.3%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Columbia, SC sits -0.8 pp behind that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
Waiters and Waitresses shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Columbia, SC
Waiters and Waitresses publishes $17,810 here versus $35,230 nationally (-49.4%; 6,580metro-area jobs). Next is Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel at $48,570 locally versus $69,990 nationally (-30.6%).
- Waiters and Waitresses$17,810 in Columbia, SC sits 49.4% below the national Waiters and Waitresses median of $35,230 (6,580 published local jobs).
- Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel$48,570 in Columbia, SC sits 30.6% below the national Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel median of $69,990 (3,400 published local jobs).
- Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary$27,860 in Columbia, SC sits 24.3% below the national Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary median of $36,780 (2,680 published local jobs).
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers$59,260 in Columbia, SC sits 22.2% below the national Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers median of $76,210 (2,840 published local jobs).
Waiters and Waitresses and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Columbia, SC; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 17900 · Columbia, SC $58K mean
MEAN-MID · RPP-LOW · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MID #254/528
- RPP-LOW 93.7
- OCC-MOST 510 occs
- TOP-LEAD Physicians, Al… · $374K
- EMP-MIX Sales Managers
- TREND-INLINE -0.8 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Maryland nonmetr…
- BOOK-FULL 502 rows · May 2025
Read with Maryland nonmetropolitan area (+$0 on published-row mean) · Highest-paying careers
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer, not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Columbia, SC
Employment scale inside Columbia, SC's top-pay list
Sales Managers and Physicians, All Other lead published employment inside Columbia, SC's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Sales Managers 1,360 jobs · $128,650
- 2. Physicians, All Other 1,050 jobs · $374,300
- 3. Pharmacists 1,050 jobs · $133,850
- 4. Computer and Information Systems Managers 990 jobs · $141,570
- 5. Industrial Production Managers 850 jobs · $128,050
- 6. Marketing Managers 560 jobs · $136,930
- 7. Dentists, General 480 jobs · $228,820
- 8. Managers, All Other 410 jobs · $129,960
- 9. Architectural and Engineering Managers 360 jobs · $162,260
- 10. Chief Executives 320 jobs · $176,890
- 11. Database Architects 240 jobs · $135,790
- 12. Business Teachers, Postsecondary 230 jobs · $129,380
- 13. Nurse Anesthetists 210 jobs · $271,350
- 14. Veterinarians 210 jobs · $129,960
- 15. Nuclear Engineers 120 jobs · $128,340
- 16. Family Medicine Physicians 100 jobs · $224,360
- 17. Psychiatrists 90 jobs · $251,060
- 18. Optometrists 90 jobs · $156,350
Occupations Tracked
510
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$58,252
employment-weighted, 502 complete rows
Top Salary
$374,300
Physicians, All Other
Cost of Living
93.7
6% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Columbia, SC
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physicians, All Other | $374,300 |
| 2 | Obstetricians and Gynecologists | $296,020 |
| 3 | Anesthesiologists | $290,620 |
| 4 | Nurse Anesthetists | $271,350 |
| 5 | Psychiatrists | $251,060 |
| 6 | Dentists, General | $228,820 |
| 7 | Family Medicine Physicians | $224,360 |
| 8 | Chief Executives | $176,890 |
| 9 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $162,260 |
| 10 | Advertising and Promotions Managers | $159,950 |
| 11 | Optometrists | $156,350 |
| 12 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $141,570 |
| 13 | Marketing Managers | $136,930 |
| 14 | Database Architects | $135,790 |
| 15 | Pharmacists | $133,850 |
| 16 | Actuaries | $133,060 |
| 17 | Psychologists, All Other | $130,580 |
| 18 | Managers, All Other | $129,960 |
| 19 | Veterinarians | $129,960 |
| 20 | Computer Hardware Engineers | $129,830 |
| 21 | Business Teachers, Postsecondary | $129,380 |
| 22 | Sales Managers | $128,650 |
| 23 | Nuclear Engineers | $128,340 |
| 24 | Industrial Production Managers | $128,050 |
| 25 | Administrative Services Managers | $126,680 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Columbia, SC
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Waiters and Waitresses | $17,810 |
| Bartenders | $19,230 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other | $20,920 |
| Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | $22,400 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $22,880 |
| Driver/Sales Workers | $22,900 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $23,070 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $25,720 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $26,720 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $27,170 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in SC
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside SC. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($58,252 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average salary in Columbia, SC? ▼
Which published medians lead Columbia, SC? ▼
What is the cost of living in Columbia, SC? ▼
Where does BLS salary data for Columbia, SC come from? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Columbia, SC wage figures in a real decision
- Physicians, All Other leads published medians in Columbia, SC at $374,300/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Physicians, All Other
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $58,252 adjusts to about $62,194 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 93.7. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for SC before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.