As defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and used by the U.S. Census Bureau for statistical purposes only, the
Columbia Metropolitan Statistical Area, is an area consisting of six counties in central
South Carolina, anchored by the city of
Columbia. As of the
2010 census, the MSA had a population of 767,598; as of the 2014 census estimates, the population is 800,495. It is the second-largest metropolitan statistical area in the state of South Carolina, since the Anderson metropolitan statistical area was combined with Greenville's following the 2010 census.