430,651 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.6% since 2020)
757 square miles of land · 569 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
30 active community water systems list Richland County in the area they serve, reporting 392,460 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| COLUMBIA CITY OF (SC4010001) surface water · local government · SC4010001 | 354,068 served |
| FORT JACKSON (SC4010501) buys surface water · federal · SC4010501 | 31,000 served |
| HOPKINS COMMUNITY WATER SYSTEM (4020002) groundwater · local government · SC4020002 | 2,200 served |
| BGWC RAINTREE ACRES (SC4050015) buys surface water · private · SC4050015 | 828 served |
| EASTOVER TOWN OF (SC4010002) groundwater · local government · SC4010002 | 700 served |
| BAY CAPITAL WATER WORKS (SC4050031) groundwater · private · SC4050031 | 647 served |
| BGWC CHARLESWOOD S/D (4050008) buys surface water · private · SC4050008 | 484 served |
| BGWC FARROWWOOD ESTATES (SC4050012) buys surface water · private · SC4050012 | 377 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 797 people were held in Richland County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 276 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 850.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
3 school districts have their office in Richland County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $507.3 million — $399.8 million to run schools, about $14,024 per student, plus $85.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $216.1 million local (mostly property tax), $235.2 million state, $48.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $507.4 million.
Spent $495.3 million — $421.5 million to run schools, about $19,129 per student, plus $61.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $293.6 million local (mostly property tax), $156.3 million state, $87.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $332.2 million.
Spent $277.3 million — $258.4 million to run schools, about $14,799 per student, plus $11.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $134 million local (mostly property tax), $155 million state, $25 million federal. Long-term debt: $196.1 million.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Richland County about $137.8 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
367 bridges in Richland County: 182 in good condition, 168 fair, and 17 poor (4.6%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| I-77 SB over US 21 · built 1976 | 36,350 vehicles a day |
| US 1 over I-77 · built 1977 | 31,000 vehicles a day |
| US 76 over RR CSXT · built 1939 | 21,600 vehicles a day |
| US 76 over US 601 · built 1957 | 19,100 vehicles a day |
| US 321 over CRANE CREEK · built 1927 | 14,900 vehicles a day |
| US 601 over COLONELS CREEK · built 1939 | 5,700 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $2.4 billion of work in Richland County in fiscal 2025, about $5,785 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for South Carolina are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Richland County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Richland County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of South Carolina: the state government and every county in South Carolina.
Nearby counties: Lexington County (23 mi) · Calhoun County (25 mi) · Kershaw County (28 mi) · Fairfield County (28 mi) · Sumter County (31 mi) · Lee County (38 mi).