Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Columbus has 4.4 jobs for every working resident: 1,813 people commute in to work
Employers in Columbus report 1,855 jobs for 423 working residents. Jobs and income earn Columbus C−; getting around on foot earns it C. About one in ten stay in Columbus for work; outside it, Charlotte is the main destination (9%, 78 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Columbus apart
Columbus fills up on a workday
Columbus has 1,855 jobs, 4.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 2,500 people are in town, more than double the 1,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Columbus’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Columbus is Charlotte, 78 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (37) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% 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 ↓
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 423 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Columbus’ grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Columbus is better than 22% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Columbus’ grade.
Unemployment (4.2%) is left out: Columbus’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Columbus could be anywhere from D to B.
Who leaves Columbus for work, and who comes in
On a workday 381 residents head out to work and 42 work right here.
About 2,500 people are in Columbus on a workday afternoon, 137% 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.
How far Columbus’ workers travel
About 35% 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.
The daily trip into Columbus
Where Columbus clocks in
9% of workers
6% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Columbus
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Columbus, 2013 → 2023: 1,957 → 1,855. 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.
The trip to work from Columbus: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Columbus workers work from home, vs 16% across North Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 421 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across North Carolina: 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.
For most of Columbus, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Columbus is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.9% across North Carolina.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 472 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). 8.3% of Columbus households have no vehicle (North Carolina 5.3%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Columbus’ commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Columbus is 2,023rd among 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 158 | Montreat NC | 1,024 | $116K | 0.0% | 9.6% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 263 | Stem NC | 1,023 | $96K | 3.0% | 1.1% | 0% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 302 | Brandywine Bay NC | 1,313 | $105K | 1.2% | 12.1% | 0% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,021 | Orange Township MI | 1,322 | $70K | 11.2% | 1.7% | 1% | C− |
| 2,022 | Littleville AL | 1,065 | $56K | 11.4% | 1.5% | 1% | C− |
| 2,023 | Columbus NC | 1,042 | $60K | 13.2% | 4.2% | 10% | C− |
| 2,024 | Crystal Lake Township MI | 1,094 | $70K | 11.4% | 4.9% | 2% | C− |
| 2,025 | Wells VT | 1,195 | $75K | 15.5% | 6.4% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 North Carolina.
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?
$60,169 (±$15,642) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,388 across North Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Columbus?
13.2%, against 13.0% across North Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Columbus?
21 minutes each way on average, against 25 across North Carolina and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Columbus work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Charlotte (9%, 78 mi), Asheville (6%, 29 mi), Tryon (6%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Columbus walkable?
Columbus is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Columbus without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% 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.