Columbia gives you more house for the money than most of the country, and a short drive to work at the end of it. Homes are moving at a steady, unhurried pace, so buyers have time to choose well, and sellers who price right from the first day still do well.
Midlands Market Data
The numbers behind the Midlands, in one place.
Every figure on this site, grouped by market and area, with its source and the period it covers.
Price ladder
What a home costs, from the city to deep water
The same budget buys very different things across twenty miles. Each figure carries its period; the sources are listed beneath.
Median sale price, city of ColumbiaJune 2026~$254K
Median sale price, Chapin and Lake Murray areasummer 2026$449K
Median closed price, Chapin waterfront three-bedroommid-2026~$825K
Median closed price, Lexington deep-water corridormid-2026~$1.18M
$0$600K$1.2M
These medians measure different things: a city, a lake area, one kind of waterfront home, one stretch of shoreline. Read them as a ladder from the city to deep water, not as like-for-like.
Sources: Movoto and Redfin, June 2026; Redfin and regional MLS market reports, summer 2026; Regional MLS and Redfin snapshots, mid-2026. Market figures change monthly and vary sharply by neighborhood and shoreline.
Right now
The numbers each market runs on
City & Town Living
Columbia
~$254KMedian sale price, city of ColumbiaJune 2026
41Median days on market, city of ColumbiaMay 2026
~40%Below the U.S. typical home pricemid-2026
17 minAverage commute to work, against about 27 nationally2019–2023
What the numbers tell us
Sources: Movoto and Redfin, June 2026 and May 2026; Zillow Home Value Index, mid-2026; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2019–2023. Market figures change monthly and vary sharply by neighborhood and shoreline.
Luxury & Waterfront Living
Lake Murray
$449KMedian sale price, Chapin and Lake Murray areasummer 2026
63Median days on market, Lake Murray areamid-2026
~2×What lakefront homes sell for against the off-water homes around themmid-2026
~2.5Months of supply lake-wide: a tight, balanced marketmid-2026
~$825KMedian closed price, Chapin waterfront three-bedroommid-2026
~$1.18MMedian closed price, Lexington deep-water corridormid-2026
50,000Acres of water, give or takeapproximate
650Miles of shoreline across four countiesapproximate
What the numbers tell us
At the lake, the water sets the price. The dock, the depth and the cove can put two similar houses a mile apart hundreds of thousands of dollars from each other, and with only about two and a half months of supply, the right home doesn't wait long.
Sources: Redfin and regional MLS market reports, summer 2026 and mid-2026; Regional MLS and Redfin snapshots, mid-2026; Dominion Energy shoreline management, approximate. Market figures change monthly and vary sharply by neighborhood and shoreline.
Distance
How far is it?
Choose a workplace to see how far each area is from it.
From
- Columbia<1 mi
- West Columbia2 mi
- Forest Acres3 mi
- Cayce3 mi
- Irmo10 mi
- Lexington12 mi
- Ballentine14 mi
- Blythewood15 mi
- Elgin18 mi
- Gilbert21 mi
- Chapin21 mi
- Peak24 mi
- Little Mountain26 mi
- Leesville28 mi
- Pomaria29 mi
- Camden30 mi
- Prosperity32 mi
- Newberry39 mi
- Saluda42 mi
Straight-line miles from approximate town centres, not driving distance. Areas with their own page in bold.
Areas
Areas at a glance
County lines run through ZIP codes here, and that changes tax bills and school districts. Each area page has more.
| Area | County | ZIP | School district | To downtown | To Lexington Medical |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chapin | Lexington County | 29036reaches into Richland and Newberry counties | Lexington-Richland School District Five | 21 mi | 19 mi |
| Irmo | Lexington and Richland counties | 29063mostly Richland County, partly Lexington | Lexington-Richland School District Five | 10 mi | 8 mi |
| Lexington | Lexington County | 29072 29073 |
Lexington County School District One | 12 mi | 8 mi |
| Columbia | Richland County, with edges in Lexington and Kershaw | 29201–29229many ZIPs; a few cross county lines | Richland One and Richland Two serve most of the city; some addresses on its north-west edge are in Lexington-Richland Five | <1 mi | 4 mi |
Distances are straight-line miles from approximate town centres. ZIP and county notes come from public ZIP and county boundary listings, so confirm any specific address with the county. School attendance is set by address, so always check the specific address with the district.
Investor Market
Run the numbers on a property
Change any figure and the results update. It's a starting point; real comparable rents and expense history refine it.
Cap rate is net operating income divided by price. Cash-on-cash is annual cash flow divided by cash invested (down payment only; add closing costs for a stricter number). Debt coverage is net operating income divided by annual mortgage payments; lenders usually want 1.2 or better.
Every month
Get the numbers as they change
The Midlands Market Letter covers every market and area here, once a month. When direct MLS data access is in place, these figures become monthly numbers drawn from it rather than market summaries.