2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Sunnyvale, CA vs Columbia, SC

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Highlights
- Household income in Columbia, is 70% less than it is in Sunnyvale and is 41% below the National Average.
- Sunnyvale unemployment rate is 3.9%.
- Columbia unemployment rate is 5.2%.
 Sunnyvale, CAColumbia, SCUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock5.2%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock-0.2%1.6%
 Future Job Growth41.4%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes9.0%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock7.0%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$79,494  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$48,791$69,021
 Family Median Income$174,674  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Sunnyvale, CAColumbia, SCUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock18.9%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K1.0%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock10.7%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K2.7%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock8.6%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K3.4%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock7.4%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K8.8%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock11.2%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K14.8%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock7.1%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Sunnyvale, CAColumbia, SCUnited States
 Management, business, finance19.3%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock5.8%6.5%
 Community, social services0.9%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock2.3%1.2%
 Education, library4.1%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock2.3%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology3.1%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock3.0%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement0.7%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock8.1%5.4%
 Building maintenance2.2%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock2.5%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support12.2%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.4%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair3.0%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock10.1%13.1%
Reviews for Sunnyvale    14 Reviews

At this point, I would only recommend moving to silicon valley for the job market. Sure, the weather is great and the restaurants offer huge variety. But the costs of  More

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Like previous reviewer, tech company's tyranny over city gov and quality of living has negatively impacted a fantastic place to live. Climate, while super, is grossly  More

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I've lived here for 40 years. While the weather is fabulous, For the past ten years of high density housing mostly needed to house thousands of a young up coming tech  More

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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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