Photo: Montanabw · CC BY-SA 4.0Columbus has 1.8 jobs for every working resident: 1,129 people commute in to work
For jobs and income Columbus is better than 36% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (A). Columbus has 1,419 jobs, against 809 working residents. About one in three stay in Columbus for work; outside it, Billings is the main destination (19%, 35 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Columbus at work: what stands out
Columbus’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Columbus is Billings, 35 miles away as the crow flies. 19% of working residents (153) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Columbus is where the jobs are
Columbus has 1,419 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
The biggest group of Columbus’ workers comes from Billings
216 of the people who work in Columbus live in Billings, 35 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
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; with 809 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Columbus’ Jobs & income grade comes from
Unemployment holds Columbus’ grade up (3.1%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 14% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Columbus could be anywhere from D to B+.
The distance from Columbus to work
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.
How many people are in Columbus by day
On a workday 519 residents head out to work and 290 work right here.
About 2,600 people are in Columbus on a workday afternoon, 31% 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.
Who travels to work in Columbus, and from where
Where Columbus clocks in
19% of workers
2% 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, 31% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Columbus, 2013 → 2023: 1,330 → 1,419. 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.
From Columbus, about 27 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Columbus workers work from home, vs 13% across Montana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 957 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Montana: 81% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Columbus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,012 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). 6.6% of Columbus households have no vehicle (Montana 4.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Columbus’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700, Columbus ranks 3,045th of 5,509 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 531 | King Arthur Park MT | 1,992 | $109K | 7.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 622 | Manhattan MT | 2,073 | $88K | 2.9% | 0.0% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 858 | Big Sky MT | 2,445 | $139K | 4.7% | 1.4% | 68% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,043 | Cabot VT | 1,470 | $77K | 9.0% | 1.7% | 9% | C+ |
| 3,044 | Belle Plaine WI | 1,756 | $75K | 12.5% | 3.3% | 2% | C+ |
| 3,045 | Columbus MT | 1,964 | $65K | 11.0% | 3.1% | 36% | C+ |
| 3,046 | Pleasant Township IN | 2,387 | $73K | 7.7% | 6.4% | 2% | C+ |
| 3,047 | Kasson Township MI | 1,696 | $85K | 12.1% | 5.4% | 14% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | 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 Columbus, the top three, the last and three more from Montana.
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?
$65,250 (±$16,643) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,509 across Montana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Columbus?
11.0%, against 11.5% across Montana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Columbus?
27 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Montana and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Columbus work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Billings (19%, 35 mi), Helena (2%, 148 mi), Bozeman (2%, 87 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Columbus walkable?
Columbus is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.6 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Columbus without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 7% 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.