Real estate · Metro area · South Carolina
Home inspectors in the Columbia, SC metro area
How the Columbia, SC metro area compares with other metro areas and the U.S. for home inspectors: competitors, household spending, official counts and growth.
Groundwork market score · out of 100
Score 72 out of 100: Upper middle
Ranked #23 of 243 scored metro areas
#2 of 7 scored metro areas based in South Carolina
- Listings
- 13
- 2 chain locations (15%)
- Official establishments
- 15
- Businesses with payroll, 2023
- Household spending a year
- $5B
- On rent and homeowner costs · $14,697 a household
- Housing spending per listing (U.S. = 100)
- 146
- 46% above the U.S.
- Listings per 10k households
- 0.4
- 33% below the U.S.
- Population, 2025
- 879,918
- +6.0% since 2020
See the home inspectors around any address in the Columbia metro area
The site report maps the home inspectors on map listings near the address, by name and distance, and sizes the households and spending around it. Or open the report at the center of the Columbia metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardSurvey estimates 2020–2024 · population estimates 2025 · official business counts 2023 · map listings September 2026 · Data credits · How we measure
What this means
For home inspectors, the Columbia metro area has a Groundwork market score of 72 (upper middle): #23 of 243 scored metro areas and #2 of 7 scored metro areas based in South Carolina. That puts it in the top 10% of metro areas for home inspectors.
Map listings as of September 2026 show 13 home inspectors in the Columbia metro area. Chain locations make up 15% of them, against 3% across the U.S. Per 10,000 households, that is 0.4, 33% below the U.S. rate of 0.6.
Household spending on rent and homeowner costs in the Columbia metro area comes to about $5B a year: $14,697 per household, 12% below the U.S. average. Housing spending per business is 46% above the U.S. figure. That figure is all rent and homeowner costs, used as a measure of housing demand; it is not money home inspectors take in.
Official counts show 15 businesses with payroll classed as building inspection services in the Columbia metro area in 2023. That is one for every 22,640 households, against one for every 17,237 across the U.S. Since fiscal 2022, 2 SBA-backed loans worth $928K have gone to businesses classed as building inspection services in the Columbia metro area. Between 2020 and 2025, the population of the Columbia metro area grew 6.0%, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%).
How the Columbia metro area compares
The same measures for South Carolina and the whole U.S. Housing spending per listing divides all rent and homeowner costs by the listings counted: a measure of housing demand for each business, not money any of them take in, so it is shown against the U.S. (100) only. Households per establishment divides households by the official count.
| Measure | Columbia metro area | South Carolina | U.S. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings per 10k households | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Housing spending per listing (U.S. = 100) | 146 | 89 | 100 |
| Households per official establishment | 22,640 | 18,743 | 17,237 |
| Official establishment growth, 2019–2023 | n/a | +13.0% | +6.5% |
| Population growth, 2020–2025 | +6.0% | +8.5% | +3.1% |
| Spending per household on rent and homeowner costs | $14,697 | $14,791 | $16,661 |
| Median household income | $68,359 | $69,324 | $80,734 |
| Groundwork market score | 72 | 48 |
Official counts and lending
Businesses
- Official establishments, 2019 to 2023
- 15
- Employees, 2023
- 41
- Annual payroll, 2023
- $1.9M
- One-person businesses, 2023
- Not publishedNot published for this business type
- Map listings, September 2026
- 132 chain locations
- Listings at the U.S. rate for this spending
- 19The U.S. ratio of listings to household spending, applied here
SBA-backed loans since fiscal 2022
- Loans
- 2
- Amount
- $928K
SBA-backed loans to businesses classed as building inspection services in the Columbia metro area, through June 2026, placed by the borrower’s ZIP code. Official establishments are businesses with payroll; the official counts leave out places with fewer than 3.
Population and households in the Columbia metro area
- Population, 2025 estimate
- 879,918+6.0% since 2020
- Households
- 339,601
- Median age
- 39.2
- Homes lived in by their owners
- 69%
- Vehicles per household
- 1.9
- Land area
- 3,703 sq. mi.
- People per square mile
- 229
- Median household income
- $68,359+22.1% vs. 2015–2019, before inflation
- Average household income
- $92,243
- Median home value
- $232,400
- Jobs located here
- 410,492
- Daytime population
- 894,123Residents who don’t work, plus everyone whose job is here
Looking at a specific site in the Columbia metro area?
These figures cover the whole metro area. A site report draws rings around one address and counts what’s inside them: households, spending, jobs, and the home inspectors on map listings by name and distance.
Or open the report at the center of the Columbia metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
Free10 actions over 3 days, no cardHome inspectors across South Carolina
Every South Carolina market ranked →The highest-scoring metro areas in South Carolina for home inspectors, numbered among those based in South Carolina (a market based in another state is listed without a number), with the Columbia metro area marked.
Top metro areas in South Carolina
| Market | Score | Listings | Per 10k households | Housing spending per listing (U.S. = 100) | Population growth | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Spartanburg, SC | 77 | 5 | 0.3 | 155 | +14.3% | #14 of 243 |
| 2Columbia, SC | 72 | 13 | 0.4 | 146 | +6.0% | #23 of 243 |
| 3Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC | 63 | 19 | 0.5 | 115 | +9.0% | #53 of 243 |
| Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC | 55 | 18 | 0.8 | 72 | +4.7% | #98 of 243 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | 53 | 78 | 0.7 | 85 | +10.1% | #111 of 243 |
| 4Charleston-North Charleston, SC | 53 | 30 | 0.9 | 69 | +10.7% | #112 of 243 |
| 5Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC | 44 | 10 | 1.0 | 59 | +12.0% | #156 of 243 |
| 6Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC | 30 | 20 | 1.3 | 43 | +20.9% | #217 of 243 |
| 7Florence, SC | 25 | 6 | 0.8 | 68 | +0.9% | #232 of 243 |
Other business types in the Columbia metro area
Each with its Groundwork market score here, out of 100, where it has one.
Food and drink
Groceries and convenience
Auto
Beauty and personal care
Fitness and classes
Health care
Child care
Clothing and laundry
Home services
Real estate
- Real estate40
- Real estate agents and brokers40
- Property management49
- Mortgage brokers and lenders37
- Home inspectors72
Funeral services
Questions
How many home inspectors are in the Columbia, SC metro area?
There are 13 home inspectors on map listings in the Columbia metro area as of September 2026. 2 of them (15%) are chain locations. The listings count home inspectors. Official counts show 15 businesses with payroll classed as building inspection services in 2023.
How much do households in the Columbia, SC metro area spend on rent and homeowner costs?
About $5B a year, or $14,697 per household. That is 12% below the U.S. average (an index of 88, where 100 is the U.S. average). For the 13 home inspectors on map listings, housing spending per business is 46% above the U.S. figure. The spending figure is all rent and homeowner costs, a measure of housing demand, not money home inspectors take in. It is estimated from the incomes of the 339,601 households in the Columbia metro area and national spending patterns by income.
How does the Columbia, SC metro area compare with the U.S. for home inspectors?
The Columbia metro area has 0.4 home inspectors per 10,000 households, 33% below the U.S. rate of 0.6. The index of housing spending per business is 146, where 100 is the U.S. At the national ratio of home inspectors to household spending, the Columbia metro area would have about 19, against 13 on map listings. There is one business with payroll in the industry for every 22,640 households, against one for every 17,237 across the U.S.
How fast is the Columbia, SC metro area growing?
Population estimates put the Columbia metro area at 879,918 people in 2025, up 6.0% since 2020, faster than the U.S. (+3.1%). It has 339,601 households. Median household income in the Columbia metro area is $68,359, 15% below the U.S. median of $80,734. Against the 2015–2019 survey, the median rose 22.1%, before inflation.
What is the Groundwork market score?
The Groundwork market score runs from 0 to 100 and compares a market with others of its kind for one business type: states with states, metro areas with metro areas, small-town markets and counties with their own. It weighs household spending per competitor (35%), households per business with payroll (25%), population growth (20%) and spending power (20%), each ranked against those peers. A higher score means that, taken together, the market has more household spending and more households for each business already there, faster population growth and more spending per household than similar markets. It describes a market, not any one site or deal. The Columbia metro area scores 72 for home inspectors (upper middle), #23 of 243 scored metro areas.
How can I see the market around a specific site?
Run a Groundwork site report on an address in the Columbia metro area. It maps the home inspectors on map listings near the site and sizes the households and spending within the distance you choose. New accounts get 10 actions over 3 days, no card.
How the score works · Top markets for home inspectors · All 56 business types in the Columbia metro area
Screening a site or an acquisition in the Columbia metro area?
A site report maps the competitors on map listings near an address and sizes the households and spending around it.
The button opens the report at the center of the Columbia metro area. Signed out, you see a blurred preview; on an account, each report is one action.
This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.
Figures are estimates for research only. Not investment or real estate advice.