Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Columbia Heights works elsewhere
3,736 jobs are based in Columbia Heights, and 10,013 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Columbia Heights B−; getting around on foot earns it A. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 9.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 26.2 in Minneapolis.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Columbia Heights at work: what stands out
Columbia Heights and Minneapolis trade workers both ways
Minneapolis is the top workplace for Columbia Heights residents (31%) and also where the most people who work in Columbia Heights come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Columbia Heights residents work close to home
66% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 5% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Columbia Heights
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Columbia Heights is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #197 of 273 in Minnesota. Job access by car holds Columbia Heights’ grade up (ahead of 97% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.3%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Columbia Heights could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
31% of working residents work in Minneapolis
Where Columbia Heights clocks in
31% of workers
7% 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.
The distance from Columbia Heights to work
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Who commutes out of Columbia Heights, and who commutes in
On a workday 9,668 residents head out to work, 345 work right here, and 3,391 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Columbia Heights on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The kinds of work in Columbia Heights
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Columbia Heights, 2014 → 2024: 3,693 → 3,736. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Columbia Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Columbia Heights: about 24 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Columbia Heights workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,497 commuters (the 19% who work from home are left out). Across Minnesota: 84% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Columbia Heights
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Columbia Heights is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #12 of 273 in Minnesota. Both inputs place Columbia Heights near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 11,654 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 37% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 9.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 93% 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). 10.7% of Columbia Heights households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Columbia Heights’ commuters take a bus or train.
Columbia Heights places 1,101st of 1,658 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 16,000 to 30,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Prior Lake MN | 28,140 | $134K | 3.1% | 1.5% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Hugo MN | 17,167 | $116K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Otsego MN | 24,525 | $120K | 3.5% | 1.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,099 | Peekskill NY | 25,891 | $86K | 11.9% | 6.7% | 11% | B− |
| 1,100 | Saraland AL | 16,652 | $62K | 10.1% | 3.6% | 9% | B− |
| 1,101 | Columbia Heights MN | 22,482 | $74K | 16.3% | 5.5% | 3% | B− |
| 1,102 | St. Augustine FL | 16,141 | $78K | 14.1% | 3.8% | 26% | B− |
| 1,103 | White Oak MD | 17,329 | $83K | 15.1% | 7.1% | 1% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,658 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Heights, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Next door to Columbia Heights
The biggest share goes to Fridley (5%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Columbia Heights workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Heights | – | B− | A | 24 min | $73,691 |
| Fridley | 5% | B− | A | 23 min | $77,680 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Columbia Heights’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 2024, 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 Heights: questions
What is the median household income in Columbia Heights?
$73,691 (±$9,839) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Columbia Heights?
16.3%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Columbia Heights?
24 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Columbia Heights work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Minneapolis (31%, 6 mi), St. Paul (7%, 10 mi), Fridley (5%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Columbia Heights walkable?
Columbia Heights is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.6 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Columbia Heights without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 37% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Columbia Heights, from the people who make the trip.
More of Columbia Heights
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.