Sanborn Field and Soil Erosion Plots · Photo: Iwtwb8 · CC BY-SA 3.0Living in Columbia, MO: what to set up and who to call
Columbia runs its own electric utility, City of Columbia; its homes paid 15.5¢ per kWh in 2025. Columbia has its own library, Columbia Public Library, at 100 W Broadway.
I’m new in town
What to set up in Columbia, and who provides it. Tap an answer for the details and where they come from.
Power, water and internet
Who to call to start service at a new address in Columbia.
Power comes from City of Columbia
City of Columbia (City of Columbia - (MO)), a municipal utility, serves all of Columbia. Its homes paid an average of 15.5¢ per kWh in 2025, about $124 a month (its average across Missouri).
Service territory: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map dated Aug 2023). Prices and customers: EIA-861, 2025.
Water comes from City of Columbia Utilities
City of Columbia Utilities supplies Columbia: about 86% of residents live in its service area. University of Missouri Columbia serves another 8%. It draws ground water (EPA lists Boone County Pwsd 9 as seller) and serves 126,254 people in all.
No health-based violations reported to EPA in the five years to October 2026, like 86% of the 332 systems serving 100,001–250,000 people.
The latest lead result on file, the 90th percentile of homes sampled in Jul–Dec 2025, was 2.1 ppb, below the 15 ppb action level that applied. The highest in five years was 3.2 ppb. That’s higher than 68% of similar systems’ latest results.
The system’s full record: EPA ECHO report
EPA SDWIS via Envirofacts (violations pulled Oct 9, 2026) and ECHO (lead samples, 2026Q3); service area: EPA Community Water System Service Area Boundaries v3.0. Violations are counted by the start of their compliance period. MO3010181.
10 home internet providers serve Columbia
99% of 36,309 addresses can get 100/20 Mbps; 86% can get fiber.
| Provider | Technology | Addresses | Fastest (Mbps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mediacom Xtream | Cable, Fiber | 91% | 1,000/50 |
| Socket Telecom | Fiber, DSL | 89% | 2,500/2,500 |
| Brightspeed | Fiber, DSL, Fixed wireless | 83% | 2,000/2,000 |
| Spectrum | Cable, Fiber | 15% | 1,000/1,000 |
| Verizon | Fixed wireless | 69% | 300/20 |
| AT&T | Fixed wireless | 49% | 100/20 |
FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025. Availability as providers report it, not speeds people get.
We don’t have Columbia’s trash rules yet
Pickup rules, the dump and recycling in Columbia.
Where your child goes to school
Public school districts and the school path by grade.
Most of Columbia (99%) is in Columbia 93 School District.
B−School gradeSee Schools →U.S. Department of Education, NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25. Enrollment rules and registration are the district’s.
Town hall and registering to vote
Who to call, and how to register.
Election office: FVAP local election office directory, updated Oct 2026; jurisdictions: EAC EAVS 2024. Registration rules and links: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Columbia spans 3 ZIP codes
ZIP codes where Columbia residents live, with the share of the town in each.
| ZIP | Post office name | Share of Columbia | ZIP’s residents in Columbia |
|---|---|---|---|
| 65203 | Columbia, MO | 41% | 87% |
| 65201 | Columbia, MO | 33% | 85% |
| 65202 | Columbia, MO | 26% | 67% |
A few homes fall in 65215, 65216. 65205, 65211, 65212, 65217, 65218 are P.O. box or single-organization ZIPs with no homes.
Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, by census block; post office names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). ZIPs created since 2020 are missing.
Getting around, the ER and the library
One line each; the subject pages have the rest.
ER: CMS hospital data. Library: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024.
Questions about living in Columbia
Who supplies Columbia’s drinking water, and has it had violations?
City of Columbia Utilities (EPA ID MO3010181). It reported no health-based violations to EPA in the five years to October 2026; 86% of systems its size had none. Its latest lead 90th percentile was 2.1 ppb (Jul–Dec 2025), against a 15 ppb action level.
Who provides electricity in Columbia?
City of Columbia (City of Columbia - (MO)), a municipal utility. Its homes paid about 15.5¢ per kWh in 2025 (EIA).
What internet providers serve Columbia?
Mediacom Xtream, Socket Telecom, Brightspeed, Spectrum, Verizon, AT&T (FCC, as of December 2025).
What ZIP codes are in Columbia?
65203 (41%), 65201 (33%), 65202 (26%), by share of residents. Census 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas.
What school district is Columbia in?
Columbia 93 School District.
How do I register to vote in Columbia?
In Missouri you can register online until 27 days before Election Day, in person until 27 days before Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 27 days before). Elections here are run by the Boone. Check your registration at voteroutreach.sos.mo.gov.
Sources & dates
Every answer above names its source. Here they are with their dates.
- Water: EPA SDWIS (Envirofacts, pulled Oct 9, 2026), ECHO SDWA 2026Q3, EPA CWS Service Area Boundaries v3.0.
- Power: HIFLD Electric Retail Service Territories (map Aug 2023); EIA-861 final 2025.
- Trash: OpenStreetMap, Geofabrik extract of Oct 9, 2026. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
- ZIP codes: Census 2020 ZCTA relationship files; GeoNames postal codes (CC BY 4.0).
- Schools: NCES Common Core of Data, 2024–25.
- Registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024 (read Oct 10, 2026). Official sites and area codes: Wikidata.
- Election office: FVAP local election office directory (fetched Oct 10, 2026; each record dated), EAC EAVS 2024 jurisdictions; registration and lookup links from vote.gov’s state data, checked Oct 10, 2026.
- Internet: FCC National Broadband Map, as of December 2025.