Downtown Columbia is home to tens of thousands of people, including tens of thousands of college students. Where do all the students live?

Four off-campus student apartment complexes have been built in the past year or are in the early construction phase near the University of South Carolina.

Every time a new complex gets built, rents everywhere go up. The reason? The continuing imbalance between the supply of housing and the demand from students.

UHomes, a rental website, reports that the average cost of off-campus housing for USC students is $1,100.  Not per unit, per student.

Clemson University and College of Charleston are not too far off. Clemson’s average rate for a student in a four-bedroom apartment is around $750 to $1,000, while the College of Charleston’s is $1,500 to $1,850. 

One of the two soon-to-be brand new buildings near USC, The Verve, at Huger and Assembly streets, will be available to students beginning in Fall 2026. Rent for a four-bedroom apartment kicks off at $1,275 per person. 

Land is being cleared right across the street. That’s also going to be housing geared toward college students: Palmetto Place, where rent starts at $3,300 for a three-bedroom. 

“USC is in high demand, and more and more students who are admitted are choosing to attend,” said USC’s internal communications manager, Collyn Taylor. 

Other nearby colleges have growing student bodies, too. But the increase in USC’s student body alone has been 26.8% over the past five years.

It’s not just new apartment complexes that are changing Columbia’s landscape.

“Parents are buying these $400,000 homes for their college students and then renting out when they graduate,” Berkshire Hathaway Homes real estate agent Paige Edward said. “They worry about a shortage in housing availability.” 

And it could be that young people aren’t leaving Columbia when they graduate.

The population of the greater Columbia area is just more than 856,000 people, according to Census Reporter. Fourteen percent of that population is aged 20-29 years old – college aged young adults. 

They all need a place to stay.

“Rent is a little high, but I think it is worth it,” said USC senior Maggie Eva. “… There has definitely been an increase in rent since moving off campus. But I think it has gone up because there is more freedom when living off campus.”

Young people will do what they need to do – and perhaps pay what they need to pay.