Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domainColumbus draws 29,674 commuters a day, with 1.8 jobs for every working resident
There are 42,734 jobs in Columbus for 23,500 working residents. For jobs and income Columbus is better than 52% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (B+). More than half work in Columbus; the top destination outside it is Indianapolis (9%, 41 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Columbus: the gist
Columbus’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Columbus is Indianapolis, 41 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (2,011) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Columbus is where the jobs are
Columbus has 42,734 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Columbus makes and builds things
45% of the jobs based in Columbus are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Columbus residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 36%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Columbus are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 24 across Indiana. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Indiana worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Columbus’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Job access by car holds Columbus’ grade up (ahead of 66% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (11.3%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Columbus could be anywhere from C+ to B.
The commute from Columbus, by distance
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 works in Columbus, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 10,440 residents head out to work and 13,060 work right here.
About 72,000 people are in Columbus on a workday afternoon, 37% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Factories, building and farms: 45% of the jobs in Columbus
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Columbus, 2013 → 2023: 38,907 → 42,734. 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 Columbus’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Columbus takes about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Columbus workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 21,758 commuters (the 16% who work from home are left out). Across Indiana: 85% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Commuting in to Columbus: where workers come from
Where Columbus clocks in
9% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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.
In Columbus, the car does most of the work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 25,768 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.0% of Columbus households have no vehicle (Indiana 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Columbus’ commuters take a bus or train.
Columbus next to U.S. towns of 37,000 to 71,000: 569th of 837 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Liberty Township OH | 40,625 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Perry Township IN | 39,325 | $112K | 3.4% | 1.3% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Westfield IN | 66,258 | $123K | 3.6% | 2.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Westfield Washington Township IN | 70,020 | $121K | 4.4% | 2.8% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 567 | Hempstead NY | 59,819 | $90K | 14.4% | 9.2% | 8% | B− |
| 568 | Egg Harbor Township NJ | 48,435 | $97K | 9.4% | 8.2% | 15% | B− |
| 569 | Columbus IN | 52,655 | $77K | 11.3% | 4.7% | 56% | B− |
| 570 | Redmond OR | 38,547 | $84K | 9.6% | 4.5% | 30% | B− |
| 571 | Columbia TN | 50,072 | $64K | 14.2% | 2.6% | 23% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 837 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Columbus, the top three, the last and three more from Indiana.
The towns around Columbus
The biggest share goes to German Township (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Columbus workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus | – | B− | B+ | 19 min | $77,456 |
| Columbus Township | under 1% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Harrison Township | under 1% | A− | C− | 21 min | $119,877 |
| Clay Township | under 1% | A | D | 31 min | $89,688 |
| German Township | 1% | B− | C | 22 min | $74,608 |
Same-state neighbors only. Columbus Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Columbus’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 Columbus: questions
What is the median household income in Columbus?
$77,456 (±$4,545) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,957 across Indiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Columbus?
11.3%, against 12.3% across Indiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Columbus?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Indiana and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Columbus work?
56% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Indianapolis (9%, 41 mi), Seymour (3%, 18 mi), Bloomington (2%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Columbus walkable?
Columbus is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Columbus without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Columbus, from the people who make the trip.
More of Columbus
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.