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Computer Programmers · SOC 15-1251

Computer Programmers Salary in the Columbia Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025Columbia, SC metro area

Figures describe the Columbia, SC metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not Columbia city limits.

Median annual wage$98,490
Median hourly wage$47.35

Computer Programmers in the Columbia, SC metro area earned a median of $98,490 per year ($47.35 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $63,130 at the 10th percentile to $132,330 at the 90th. BLS estimates 190 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Computer Programmers in the Columbia metro area earn more than $98,490 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $73,990 and $130,770.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$63,130$73,990$98,490$130,770$132,330
Hourly$30.35$35.57$47.35$62.87$63.62

A percentile is a cut point: 25% of workers in this occupation and area earn less than the 25th-percentile wage. The median is the 50th percentile — half earn less, half earn more.

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How this area compares

  • Columbia metro areathis metro area
    $98,490
  • South Carolinastate (SC)
    $99,740
  • United Statesnational
    $100,390

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

The median here is −1% vs South Carolina overall and −2% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$51,460$85,983$120,507$155,030San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR — $51,460Springfield, IL — $61,160Manchester-Nashua, NH — $62,810Rochester, MN — $65,070El Paso, TX — $65,220Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL — $65,530Knoxville, TN — $66,760Flint, MI — $67,300Amherst Town-Northampton, MA — $68,090Clarksville, TN-KY — $68,790Jackson, MS — $70,090Lubbock, TX — $70,260Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA — $71,590Monroe, LA — $71,780Dover, DE — $72,110Gulfport-Biloxi, MS — $72,430McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX — $72,430Tallahassee, FL — $72,680Wausau, WI — $73,250Youngstown-Warren, OH — $73,440Lafayette, LA — $73,470Memphis, TN-MS-AR — $73,970Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA — $74,090Lansing-East Lansing, MI — $74,110Corpus Christi, TX — $74,500Midland, TX — $75,640Longview, TX — $76,490Cedar Rapids, IA — $76,530New Orleans-Metairie, LA — $77,220Asheville, NC — $77,460Amarillo, TX — $77,570St. Cloud, MN — $77,640Ames, IA — $77,720Shreveport-Bossier City, LA — $77,730Chattanooga, TN-GA — $77,880Erie, PA — $78,060Akron, OH — $78,070Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA — $78,250North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL — $78,730Utica-Rome, NY — $78,770Kalamazoo-Portage, MI — $78,880Gainesville, FL — $78,970Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA — $79,200Appleton, WI — $79,270Cleveland, OH — $79,290Wilmington, NC — $79,530Mobile, AL — $79,640Toledo, OH — $79,770Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI — $80,060Binghamton, NY — $80,510College Station-Bryan, TX — $80,620Springfield, MO — $80,640Columbus, OH — $80,910Jefferson City, MO — $81,150Killeen-Temple, TX — $81,230Green Bay, WI — $81,470Oshkosh-Neenah, WI — $81,970Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX — $82,560South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI — $82,750Bismarck, ND — $83,160Rochester, NY — $83,420Port St. Lucie, FL — $83,510Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL — $83,690Albuquerque, NM — $83,750Winston-Salem, NC — $83,760Lancaster, PA — $83,990Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY — $84,140Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA — $84,250Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL — $84,400Greensboro-High Point, NC — $84,700Mankato, MN — $84,710Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC — $84,720Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL — $84,820Lawrence, KS — $84,950Kenosha, WI — $85,020Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI — $85,280Pittsburgh, PA — $85,340Ann Arbor, MI — $85,580Bloomington, IN — $85,580Traverse City, MI — $85,590Tuscaloosa, AL — $86,110Las Cruces, NM — $86,420Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA — $86,450Waco, TX — $86,900Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI — $86,970Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA — $87,100State College, PA — $87,610Fort Wayne, IN — $87,630Fort Smith, AR-OK — $87,640Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI — $87,860Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA — $88,180Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ — $88,220Tucson, AZ — $88,990Champaign-Urbana, IL — $89,380Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV — $90,040Medford, OR — $90,570Fairbanks-College, AK — $90,730Lexington-Fayette, KY — $90,850Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ — $91,110Anchorage, AK — $91,130Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC — $91,180Santa Fe, NM — $91,600York-Hanover, PA — $91,760Boise City, ID — $92,270Fargo, ND-MN — $92,280Lincoln, NE — $92,510Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY — $92,600Oklahoma City, OK — $92,790Roanoke, VA — $92,830Topeka, KS — $92,960Wichita, KS — $92,960Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ — $93,510Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV — $93,600Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY — $94,260Omaha, NE-IA — $95,150Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH — $96,350Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX — $96,440Canton-Massillon, OH — $96,750St. Louis, MO-IL — $96,920Providence-Warwick, RI-MA — $97,300Madison, WI — $97,410Evansville, IN — $97,630Montgomery, AL — $97,710Bangor, ME — $98,260Columbia, SC — $98,490Reading, PA — $98,690Jacksonville, FL — $99,050Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA — $99,150Fresno, CA — $99,370Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC — $99,520Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $99,750Syracuse, NY — $99,920Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT — $99,980Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR — $100,070Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL — $100,100Ogden, UT — $100,120Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL — $100,140Merced, CA — $100,410Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL — $100,450Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL — $100,650Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX — $100,700Burlington-South Burlington, VT — $101,020Macon-Bibb County, GA — $101,190Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $101,420Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL — $101,530Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN — $101,640Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA — $101,810Kansas City, MO-KS — $101,830Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA — $101,910Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN — $102,070Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA — $102,150Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — $102,240Flagstaff, AZ — $102,300Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA — $102,600Salem, OR — $103,040Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC — $103,070Modesto, CA — $103,250Eugene-Springfield, OR — $103,600Birmingham, AL — $103,750Reno, NV — $104,200Bellingham, WA — $104,240Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO — $104,610Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN — $105,050Durham-Chapel Hill, NC — $105,160Savannah, GA — $105,600New Haven, CT — $105,790Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD — $106,420Greenville, NC — $106,770Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $107,090Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL — $107,400Charleston-North Charleston, SC — $107,770Elkhart-Goshen, IN — $107,850Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA — $108,060Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA — $108,740Vallejo, CA — $108,830Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA — $109,690Charlottesville, VA — $109,770Huntsville, AL — $110,110Trenton-Princeton, NJ — $110,990Urban Honolulu, HI — $111,170Salt Lake City-Murray, UT — $111,290Richmond, VA — $112,690Lexington Park, MD — $112,990Iowa City, IA — $113,590Corvallis, OR — $113,950San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA — $114,110Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT — $116,370Colorado Springs, CO — $117,020Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI — $118,000Worcester, MA — $119,010Naples-Marco Island, FL — $119,330Visalia, CA — $121,710Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA — $125,240New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — $126,750Kahului-Wailuku, HI — $128,240Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $128,900Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV — $130,390San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $130,730Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT — $130,790Portland-South Portland, ME — $131,960Bend, OR — $132,280Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA — $132,850San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA — $134,130Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR — $136,880Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT — $141,920San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA — $154,920Boulder, CO — $155,030

Each dot is one metro area with a published median — hover any dot for the name and figure. Metros without published estimates are not drawn.

The Columbia metro area has the 83rd-highest published median for this occupation among the 207 metro areas where BLS publishes it. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Other metro areas in South Carolina

Metro areas in the same state with published May 2025 medians for computer programmers, highest first. Areas without published estimates are not listed.

  • Columbia metro areathis page
    $98,490
  • Charleston metro area
    $107,770
  • Greenville metro area
    $99,520
  • Myrtle Beach metro area
    $91,180

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

Keep exploring

Other occupations in the same SOC group with published medians here, largest employment first:

Computer Systems Analysts$90,760Software Developers$123,380Computer User Support Specialists$50,080Network and Computer Systems Administrators$86,650Computer Occupations, All Other$91,920Data Scientists$88,260

Highest-paying metro areas for computer programmerss · Highest-paying occupations in Columbia Metro

About this estimate

These figures are survey estimates from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — modeled from employer reports collected over three years and benchmarked to May 2025. They describe what employers in this area currently pay across all industries, not what any individual worker will be offered.

Employment counts wage-and-salary jobs in the occupation (self-employed workers are excluded). Estimates carry sampling error; percentile wages are rounded by BLS. Some values are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality or quality — suppressed values appear here as “not published”, never as zero. Read the full methodology.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.