2025 Compare Cities Job Market:
Columbia, SC vs Merced, CA

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Highlights
- Job Growth in Merced has been positive.
- Merced has 4.1% less unemployment than Columbia.
- Merced job growth has increased by 6.0% in the past 10 years.
 Columbia, SCMerced, CAUnited States
 Current Unemployment  Unlock9.3%6.0%
 Future Job Growth27.4%  Unlock33.5%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock-5.2%-6.2%
 3 Yr. Job Growth-2.9%  Unlock-3.6%
 5 Yr. Job Growth  Unlock-2.1%-0.7%
 10 Yr. Job Growth4.5%  Unlock6.3%
Reviews for Columbia    50 Reviews

Over 2 years ago

I love living in Columbia! I recently graduated from USC and plan to stay. I read the reviews posted here and it shows that like many cities, your experience will depend  More

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Loved living in Columbia, SC prior to my job transfer. It's the perfect size - plenty to do, but still a laid back place. People are extremely friendly, there are  More

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Columbia is such a unique and underrated place. It has a lot of character and history, and good nature trails. Everything feels accessible (by car) and you can get from  More

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Reviews for Merced    44 Reviews

Merced is totally slept on - you want a little bit of everything CA has to offer, at a fraction of the price of other CA cities? Merced is the place to go. The town  More

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Over 5 years ago

Good place to live. More affordable than most of california. The city is growing and there is alot of business and growth here. Moved from the Bay area years ago and  More

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Great place to live. Lots of progress and changes coming to the city. Great place to raise a family. UC Merced is expanding and businesses are investing. Downtown is  More

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