Zillow and Census data, September 2026
Rental property math in Columbia, SC
A typical Columbia home is worth $252,979 and a typical single-family rental there gets $1,818 a month, 0.72% of the price. At 80% LTV and an assumed 7.25% rate, that rent covers the full payment 1.13x, enough for a DSCR loan: rent is $122 above the $1,696 that 1.05x needs.
- Typical home value
- $252,979+1.6% in a year
- Single-family rent
- $1,818+3.8% in a year
- Rent / price, monthly
- 0.72%121st of 574 metros
- Property tax rate
- 0.51%$1,294 a year on the typical home
- DSCR at 80% LTV
- 1.13x84th of 574; 1.05x needed
- Cash to close
- $58,18520% down + 3% costs
The DSCR on the typical Columbia house
Loan: $252,979 × 80% = $202,383. At 7.25% over 30 years, principal and interest are $1,381 a month. Taxes: $252,979 × 0.51% = $1,294 a year, $108 a month. Insurance, assumed at 0.6% of value: $1,518 a year, $126 a month. Payment (PITIA): $1,615. DSCR: $1,818 ÷ $1,615 = 1.13x.
Rent that clears 1.05x: $1,615 × 1.05 = $1,696.
The margin is thin. At 8.25% the typical house falls to 1.04x, and an insurance quote at 1.2% of value instead of 0.6% would drop it to 1.04x, under the line.
How much room the rent leaves
Typical rent would support a loan of $219,454 at 1.05x, more than the $202,383 that 80% LTV allows, so here the LTV cap is the limit, not the rent. Put another way, at 80% LTV the rent carries a purchase up to about $271,221, $18,242 above the typical price, once taxes and insurance are scaled to that price. After the payment, $203 a month is left for vacancy, repairs and management, which the DSCR test does not count.
How Columbia compares
Columbia's rent-to-price ratio ranks 121st of 574 metros and 5th of 11 South Carolina metros in this data. Over the year to September 2026, rents rose 3.8% while prices rose 1.6%, so the rent-to-price ratio got better. That is in line with the median metro (+3.5%).
| Columbia, SC | South Carolina | All 574 metros | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical price | $252,979 | $274,802 | $287,147 |
| Single-family rent | $1,818 | $1,739 | $1,771 |
| Rent / price | 0.72% | 0.63% | 0.61% |
| Rent, 1-year change | +3.8% | +4.6% | +3.5% |
| Price, 1-year change | +1.6% | +1.1% | +2.2% |
| Property tax rate | 0.51% | 0.46% | 0.75% |
| DSCR at 80% LTV | 1.13x | 0.98x | 0.91x |
| Metros at 1.05x or better | Yes | 5 of 11 | 126 of 574 |
Homeowners here pay 0.51% of value in property tax, above the South Carolina average of 0.44%. It is what owner-occupants pay on average, including long-time owners and any owner exemptions, so treat it as a floor for a rental you buy now. Zillow's all-homes rent index, which mixes in apartments, is $1,557 here; single-family houses rent 17% higher.
Nearby metros
| Metro | Miles | Price | SFR rent | Rent / price | DSCR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sumter, SC | 39 | $200,155 | $1,612 | 0.81% | 1.25x |
| Orangeburg, SC | 46 | $162,532 | $1,254 | 0.77% | 1.19x |
| Augusta, GA | 69 | $250,497 | $1,644 | 0.66% | 1.01x |
| Spartanburg, SC | 70 | $274,802 | $1,739 | 0.63% | 0.98x |
| Florence, SC | 71 | $193,284 | $1,517 | 0.78% | 1.25x |
The nearest metro with a better DSCR is Sumter, SC, 39 miles away (1.25x on a typical price of $200,155); the best of these five is Florence, SC at 1.25x.
These are metro-wide typicals, not any one property. The lender's appraisal sets the value and market rent for the house you buy, and the lender uses the lower of the lease and that market rent (90% of it on a vacant unit). The rate is a placeholder for the math, not a quote. How the numbers are built.
Sources
- Home values: Zillow Research, Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), all homes, middle tier, smoothed and seasonally adjusted, metro level, September 2026 (CSV).
- Rents: Zillow Research, Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI), single-family residences, smoothed, metro level, September 2026 (CSV). The all-homes index that includes apartments is used only for the comparison line (CSV).
- Property tax: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates. The rate is aggregate real estate taxes paid (table B25090, file) divided by aggregate home value (table B25082, file) for owner-occupied homes in the metro area or state.
- Distances between metros: U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer file for metro areas (ZIP).
Home value and rent data: Zillow, Zillow Home Value Index and Zillow Observed Rent Index. Zillow does not review or endorse this page. Tax and geography data: U.S. Census Bureau. Loan math by Doors Funded. Refreshed when Zillow publishes a new month.
Buying a rental in Columbia?
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