Irmo, South Carolina

Area Profile

11,813 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Irmo, in Richland County.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signal: growth. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 19% of 3,904 published cities72
SchoolsTop 13% of 2,668 published cities81
Housing affordabilityTop 30% of 4,223 published cities91
ClimateTop 43% of 4,223 published cities72
Physical resilienceTop 44% of 4,182 published cities65
AccessTop 29% of 4,226 published cities97
Economic stabilityTop 39% of 4,226 published cities65
The quick read

Irmo ranks in the top 19% of published city profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 4.5% and median household income of $80,489.

Rent takes 22% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.5 times that income.

A major airport is 12 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
11,813
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$80,489
Top 33% nationally
Density
1,730/sq mi
6.8 sq mi of land
Median age
40.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Richland County
South Carolina
Metro area
Columbia, SC
Nearest major airport
CAE
12 mi · Columbia Metro
Median home value
$203,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.5% is lower than 43% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment grew 2.6% over the past year, to 208,930 employed residents.

39% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 81% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$17,507$80,489Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,779$40,333Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate9.2%Bottom 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute25.9 minBottom 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher39.2%Top 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment208,930Top 28%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)5.3%Top 5%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)2.6%Top 3%June 2026
Labor force218,859Top 28%June 2026
Labor force participation66.3%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$59,030Bottom 12%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$46,430Bottom 11%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.3%Bottom 30%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.5%Top 43%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202485k78k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $80,489 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Columbia, SC
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers11,640$27,170
Retail Salespersons10,860$29,540
Customer Service Representatives10,430$37,430
Stockers and Order Fillers9,470$37,180
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand9,410$37,530
Registered Nurses9,400$81,920

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Richland County, SC, which contains this city.

49% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 55% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.0 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
9
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
12.0
across all schools here
Math proficiency
49.4%
Top 24% in South Carolina
Reading proficiency
54.6%
Top 18% in South Carolina
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Dutch Fork HighLexington 051,70314.1
Dutch Fork MiddleLexington 0587612.941%55%
H. E. Corley ElementaryLexington 0555710.146%50%
Ballentine ElementaryLexington 0552313.461%66%
Irmo ElementaryLexington 0548712.252%50%
Oak Pointe ElementaryLexington 0548411.362%63%
Dutch Fork ElementaryLexington 054429.629%36%
River Springs ElementaryLexington 0541610.156%55%
GREEN Charter School Midlands · charterSC Public Charter School District2589.957%62%

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against South Carolina’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,477 takes 22% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.5 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
22.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.5×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,477
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$203,400
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.53Bottom 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate81.6%Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3164,876Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$129$1,477Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$18,424$203,400Top 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income22.0%Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate5.0%Bottom 29%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →

Population has grown 5% since 2020, reaching 12,086 in 2024.

Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202412k11k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.

No building-permit activity is published for this location by the Census Building Permits Survey.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 93°F and January a low of 35°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.2 inches, including 1.2 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 47, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station COLUMBIA, 11.5 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index61.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation45.2"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low35°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10012024 calendar year
Median air quality index47.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing37°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
47
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
61
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

65 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, earthquake and ice storm.

Ice stormModerate
LightningModerate
HurricaneElevated
EarthquakeElevated
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: tornado, strong wind, heat wave, inland flooding, hail, winter weather, cold wave, wildfire, drought.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Richland County records 11.8 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 17.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 15.5 per 100,000 residents in Richland County.

Homicide
11.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
17.2
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
15.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
13.2
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Richland County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Irmo rather than Irmo itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 12 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Columbia MetroCAE12 mi8,601 ft
Augusta Rgnl At Bush FldAGS67 mi8,001 ft
Charlotte/Douglas IntlCLT78 mi10,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Other cities in Columbia, SC

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
ColumbiaRichland County139,64364vs Irmo
LexingtonLexington County24,58573vs Irmo
St. AndrewsRichland County19,868vs Irmo
West ColumbiaLexington County17,96368vs Irmo
Seven OaksRichland County15,921vs Irmo
DentsvilleRichland County15,209vs Irmo
CayceLexington County13,74163vs Irmo
Oak GroveLexington County12,256vs Irmo
Red BankLexington County11,314vs Irmo
Forest AcresRichland County10,53069vs Irmo

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Irmo side by side with a similar place.

Irmo vs MaryvilleIrmo vs TaylorsIrmo vs Mount HollyIrmo vs Wade Hampton

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Irmo

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
2906338,201$91,973