Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a town of 19,868 residents in South Carolina.
St. Andrews grades low on several counts. Its weakest is health (C−) — CDC estimates put its residents' health behind four fifths of the country. Incomes are weaker too: the median household income is $47K, and 25% of residents live below the poverty line. Where it does best is walkability: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 76% of U.S. towns. A typical home there costs about $161K, 2.4 years of the Columbia metro’s $68K median household income. The overall grade lands at C−, better than 15% of U.S. towns. In the ranking it comes 128th of 167 in South Carolina. Pine Grove Rosenwald School is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · home values, Zillow · National Register of Historic Places.
Where St. Andrews beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Carolina), ordered by how far St. Andrews is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 21,814 in 2000, 20,675 in 2020. The archive holds 3 maps from 1947 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →St. Andrews is unincorporated, so Richland County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in St. Andrews.
St. Andrews is healthier than towns with similar incomes, has homes that are cheap against local pay and trades workers with Columbia and other neighbors.
Against the 4,505 U.S. towns with household incomes like St. Andrews’s, it is healthier than 55%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
The share of adults in St. Andrews who have obesity is 41%, above both South Carolina’s towns (37%) and U.S. towns (35%). Among adults in the town, 14% binge drink. Of 32 CDC measures, St. Andrews beats the South Carolina average on 2 and trails it on 19. In St. Andrews, 29% of adults worry about having enough food, and 37% feel lonely.
| St. Andrews | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 38% | 36% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 21% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 33% | 33% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 15% | 12% |
| What stands out | St. Andrews | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.6% | 8.6% |
| Fewer adults with high cholesterol | 34.7% | 38.1% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 17.2% | 8.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Two of the 3 schools are below, and why each made the list. The largest public high school is Columbia High, with 681 students. Public schools: the Richland 01 school district.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pine Grove ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 501 | C− |
| Columbia HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 681 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SC on state tests and graduation
25.4% of residents live below the poverty line, against 14.1% across South Carolina, which weighs on its C− for jobs and income. Only 28.9% of households own their home, against 71.9% across South Carolina.
Adults 18 to 34 are 31% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 14% of residents (19% statewide). St. Andrews’ midpoint age is 33.2 years, against 38.9 years in South Carolina’s towns and 40.5 years across U.S. towns. Just over a quarter of adults 25 and older hold at least a bachelor’s degree, against 32% across South Carolina.
| St. Andrews | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 33.2 years | 38.9 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 17% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 26% | 23% | 29% |
54% women, 46% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.8 points. Across South Carolina, 51.3% of residents are women. Median age: women 35.8, men 30.5.
| St. Andrews | SC | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.6% | 11.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9% | 10.1% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.1% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 21.9% | 12.8% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.4% | 12.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.3% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.9% | 13.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.8% | 7.4% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.5% | 9.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.5% | 28.2% | 26% |
| Some college | 27.4% | 19.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.8% | 10% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.3% | 19.8% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.4% | 12.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expect mild winters and hot summers in St. Andrews. July afternoons reach 93°, January nights drop to 34° and about 1 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
St. Andrews has about as many jobs (7,820) as working residents, but only 272 people both live and work here.
The top destinations are Columbia (31%), Seven Oaks (4%) and West Columbia (3%). Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in St. Andrews rose by 1,783, to 7,820. The average commute for St. Andrews comes to 22 minutes. Half of commuters travel less than 8 miles.
| St. Andrews | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 25% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $47,000 | $57,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.2% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Since 1983, 62 flood insurance claims have been paid out in St. Andrews. On expected storm and flood damage, St. Andrews sits below 57% of U.S. communities. FEMA puts just over three fifths of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 10% to hurricanes.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Just 37 of its 3,835 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in St. Andrews itself; its outdoors grade is C−.
In St. Andrews, the trail density is 0.1 miles per square mile. There are 0.5 miles of trail across 2 parks and preserves.
| St. Andrews | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. St. Andrews Park | — | 17 |
| 2. Pine Grove Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 2.4 years of the Columbia metro’s $68K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 84% of South Carolina towns; that ratio is one input to its B− for cost of living.
For households in St. Andrews, the share who own their home is 29%. A home in St. Andrews typically sold within 49 days of listing. In St. Andrews, the typical sale closed at 96.8% of the list price.
| St. Andrews | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 29% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,088 a month | $1,058 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around St. Andrews. Close and well known come first.
7 mi Stadium & arenaWilliams-Brice Stadium8 mi LakeAlcohol and Drug Abuse Lake
20 mi National ParkCongaree National Park288K visitors a year
13 mi LakeLake Murray
6 mi Stadium & arenaColonial Life Arena
3 mi Zoo & aquariumRiverbanks ZooWilliams-Brice Stadium: SRA MARVIN PRESTON, Public domain · Congaree National Park: Unknown, Public domain · Lake Murray: Greygh0st at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Colonial Life Arena: Dfscgt21, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Riverbanks Zoo: Carlo Giovannetti (Thief12), CC BY-SA 3.0
7 within 15 miles of the center of St. Andrews
About 6 of every 100 St. Andrews residents are enrolled in college, about the same as South Carolina.
Census-designated place in South Carolina, United States
St. Andrews or Saint Andrews is a census-designated place (CDP) in Richland County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 20,493 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Columbia, South Carolina metropolitan area. The entirety of St. Andrews is given a Columbia address and assigned the zip code 29210.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with St. Andrews.
| Town | SC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Andrews | #128 | C− | B− | — | C | C− |
| Columbia | #124 | C− | C | D | B | B− |
| Seven Oaks | #33 | B | B− | — | A− | B |
St. Andrews and Seven Oaks report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare St. Andrews with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
St. Andrews grades C− overall, better than 15% of U.S. towns and #128 of 167 in South Carolina. It grades C− for health and C for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
The typical home is worth about $161,000, 47% below the South Carolina typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
