Cost of Living in Irmo
Irmo runs genuinely affordable on housing relative to national norms, with a median household income ($80,489) that outpaces both counties it straddles -- though rent estimates carry a real, disclosed spread depending on source.
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Learn moreAffordable housing is the core cost-of-living advantage
Irmo's $250,000 median sale price (Redfin, June 2026) sits well below national norms, and median household income ($80,489) runs above both Lexington County ($75,014) and Richland County ($61,699) -- a genuinely favorable income-to-housing-cost ratio for a Columbia-metro suburb.
Rent carries a real, disclosed spread between sources
RentCafe (July 2026) cited an average apartment rent of $1,668/month, down 3.53% YoY; Zumper, for the same period, cited a notably higher $2,022/month, describing Irmo rents as running about 4% above the national average. Both are disclosed rather than averaged into one number -- and with 82% of Irmo households owning rather than renting, the rental market itself is a smaller slice of local housing than in more renter-heavy markets.
Sales tax genuinely differs by which portion of town an address sits in
Irmo's split-county structure means the combined sales tax rate is 8.00% in the Richland County portion versus 7.00% in the Lexington County portion -- a real, address-dependent variation, not a single citywide figure.
South Carolina's real two-bracket income tax applies as statewide context
Act 110 restructured South Carolina's income tax into two brackets for tax years after 2025: 1.99% on the first $30,000 of taxable income, 5.21% above that -- a statewide fact, not an Irmo-specific cost, that applies uniformly regardless of which county portion of Irmo a household lives in.
Key takeaways
- Median sale price ($250,000) runs genuinely affordable relative to national norms, and median household income ($80,489) outpaces both counties Irmo straddles.
- Rent estimates carry a real, disclosed spread: $1,668/month (RentCafe) vs. $2,022/month (Zumper) for the same period -- and 82% of households own rather than rent.
- Combined sales tax genuinely differs by address: 8.00% in Irmo's Richland County portion vs. 7.00% in its Lexington County portion.
- South Carolina's Act 110 two-bracket income tax (1.99%/5.21%) applies as statewide context, not an Irmo-specific cost.
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