Columbia, SC (population: 130,246) has three vocational schools within its city limits. Centura College, the highest ranked school in the city with a vocational program, has a total student population of 248. It is the 4178th highest ranked school in the USA and the 52nd highest in the state of South Carolina (#1 is Clemson University).
Vocational students from Columbia schools who go on to become vocational educators, event planners, landscape architects, landscape designers, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 114,420 people working as vocational education teachers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $52,030. Also, Middle school teachers make on average $53,550 per year and there are about 665,420 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Columbia area alone, there are 1,010 employed middle school teachers earning an average salary of $49,270. Vocational education teachers in this area earn $36,610/yr and there are 760 employed.
Columbia lies in Richland county, which is one of the 27 counties in South Carolina. Overall, the Columbia area has 334,600 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 0.9% unemployment rate, $18.76/hr average worker wage, and a $39,020 average annual salary. Thus, about 2.269 out of every 1000 jobs in Columbia are held by vocational education teachers, and 3.010/1000 are held by middle school teachers.
Of the 3 vocational schools in Columbia, none have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Centura College comes out as the most expensive ($22,806/yr) for vocational students, with Benedict College as the lowest, reported at only $13,633/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Columbia |
| Denmark | SC | - | 2 | 12.8531 | 54 | 51.7 miles |
| Hartsville | SC | - | 2 | 23.3042 | 83 | 52.1 miles |
| Graniteville | SC | - | 1 | 8.50122 | 49 | 62.2 miles |
| Rock Hill | SC | 72,341 | 5 | 30.0256 | 144 | 62.8 miles |
| North Augusta | SC | - | 1 | 27.4739 | 4 | 72.2 miles |
| Augusta | GA | - | 8 | 15.8236 | 215 | 75.4 miles |
| Martinez | GA | - | 2 | 23.4797 | 14 | 77.2 miles |
| Charlotte | NC | 723,514 | 18 | 27.5295 | 455 | 80.3 miles |
| Belmont | NC | - | 2 | 36.2771 | 82 | 83.6 miles |
| Gastonia | NC | 75,340 | 1 | 28.6194 | 5 | 85.2 miles |
| Spartanburg | SC | 40,665 | 7 | 35.0859 | 216 | 86.0 miles |
| North Charleston | SC | 99,930 | 3 | 24.6487 | 24 | 92.3 miles |
| Laurinburg | NC | - | 1 | 18.8047 | 40 | 96.0 miles |