How much do households in South Carolina spend on rent?
About $1,084 per month, or 32.2% of their income, in 2022. This is measured by comparing median rent and median monthly income for renting households.
Showing data for
In 2022, median rent was
32.2%
of median income
In 2022,
$1.1K
was the median rent per month
Comparing rent to renter income provides one measure of rental affordability. Dividing rent by income provides what is called a rent-to-income ratio. A higher ratio of rent-to-income indicates rent is less affordable while a lower ratio indicates it’s more affordable.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development considers households with a rent-to-income ratio of more than 30%, that is, households that spend more than 30% of their income on housing, to be cost-burdened. Cost-burdened households may have less money for other necessities such as food, healthcare, or savings. When median monthly rent is more than 30% of average monthly income, it means a typical household would meet the definition of housing cost-burdened.
South Carolina's rent-to-income ratio was higher than in the US overall in 2022.
Ratio of median gross rent to median renter household income
Subscribe to get unbiased, data-driven insights sent to your inbox weekly.
The national rent-to-income ratio reached a high of 33.8% in 2011 following the Great Recession. In South Carolina, the rent-to-income ratio reached 34.8% that year. Most recently, in 2022, South Carolina’s rent-to-income ratio was 32.2%, 0.5 percentage points higher than the national rate.
Across metro areas, the average rent-to-income ratio was 30.8% in 2018–2022.
Ratio of median gross rent to median renter household income, 2018–2022
In 2018–2022, the average rent-to-income ratio across metro areas was 30.8%. The metro areas with the highest and lowest ratios were the Mayagüez, Puerto Rico area at 56.9% (highest) and Sheboygan, Wisconsin area at 21.7% (lowest). In South Carolina, the highest and lowest were Columbia, SC area at 34.2% and Spartanburg, SC area at 29.5%.
During that period, the Charleston, South Carolina area had the highest median rent at $1,402 per month and the Hilton Head Island, South Carolina area had the highest median monthly income at $4,516 out of eight South Carolina metro areas. The Columbia, SC area's rent-to-income ratio was the highest in the state.
Renter income and rent, South Carolina metro areas (2018–2022)
| 1. | Charleston, SC area | $4,241 |
| 2. | Columbia, SC area | $3,203 |
| 3. | Florence, SC area | $2,597 |
| 4. | Greenville, SC area | $3,405 |
| 5. | Hilton Head Island, SC area | $4,516 |
| 6. | Myrtle Beach, SC area | $3,580 |
| 7. | Spartanburg, SC area | $3,259 |
| 8. | Sumter, SC area | $2,948 |
