West Columbia is a medium-sized city located in the state of South Carolina. With a population of 17,618 people and 15 associated neighborhoods, West Columbia is the 30th largest community in South Carolina.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 7.84% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

The population of West Columbia is very well educated relative to most cities and towns in the nation, where the average community has 21.84% of its adult population holding a 4-year degree or higher: 36.59% of adults in West Columbia have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in West Columbia in 2022 was $34,960, which is upper middle income relative to South Carolina, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $139,840 for a family of four. However, West Columbia contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

West Columbia is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call West Columbia home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of West Columbia residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. West Columbia also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 11.20% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in West Columbia include German, English, Irish, Scots-Irish, and African.

The most common language spoken in West Columbia is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.