Photo: Chris Krylov · CC BY 3.0Unemployment in Columbia (10.0%) is higher than in 94% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 76% of U.S. towns. Columbia grades D for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.4 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 17.5 in Los Angeles.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Columbia stands out on work
A big share show a job far from home
55% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Columbia empties out on a workday
About 1,500 people are in Columbia on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than the 2,200 who live here: 1,200 head out to work and 470 come in. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Columbia’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Columbia is better than 8% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Columbia’s grade up (15.5%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Columbia could be anywhere from D− to B−.
The distance from Columbia to work
About 55% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Who leaves Columbia for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,163 residents head out to work, 54 work right here, and 473 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,500 people are in Columbia on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
0.43 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
9% of working residents work in Sonora
Where Columbia clocks in
9% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Columbia is a services town
527 jobs are based in Columbia.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Columbia, 2013 → 2023: 441 → 527. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Columbia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Columbia: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Columbia workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 737 commuters (the 20% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Columbia is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Columbia is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 13.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 8.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 926 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 28% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 48% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 4.8% of Columbia households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Columbia’s commuters take a bus or train.
4,521st of 5,102: where Columbia ranks among U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Rolling Hills CA | 1,641 | $250K | 5.5% | 5.6% | 2% | A+ |
| 74 | Ross CA | 2,304 | $250K | 4.8% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,519 | Tawas City MI | 1,830 | $46K | 12.7% | 6.2% | 20% | D |
| 4,520 | Brownsville PA | 2,075 | $32K | 31.6% | 9.4% | 7% | D |
| 4,521 | Columbia CA | 2,235 | $59K | 15.5% | 10.0% | 4% | D |
| 4,522 | Bluewell WV | 1,992 | $35K | 18.3% | 2.8% | 1% | D |
| 4,523 | Judsonia AR | 1,906 | $43K | 29.0% | 3.0% | 3% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,102 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Columbia, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Columbia and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Columbia workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | – | D | A | 28 min | $58,520 |
| Tuttletown | under 2% | — | — | 37 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Tuttletown: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Columbia’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Columbia: questions
What is the median household income in Columbia?
$58,520 (±$11,641) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Columbia?
15.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Columbia?
28 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Columbia work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sonora (9%, 4 mi), Modesto (3%, 42 mi), East Sonora (3%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Columbia walkable?
Columbia is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Columbia without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Columbia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Columbia
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.