Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainAt 2.4%, unemployment in Columbus is lower than in 79% of U.S. towns
4% of workers have no commute at all; Nebraska has 11%. The two grades for Columbus are B− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Measured by household income, Columbus is behind 67% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Columbus, in brief
Columbus makes and builds things
38% of the jobs based in Columbus are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Columbus residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 44%. The jobs ↓
Few Columbus workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 11% across Nebraska. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
Jobs & income in Columbus: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Columbus is better than 51% of U.S. towns, #29 of 57 in Nebraska. Unemployment holds Columbus’ grade up; household income pulls it down ($64,626, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Columbus could be anywhere from C+ to B.
Goods, not services: 38% of the jobs in Columbus
13,719 jobs are based in Columbus.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Columbus, 2013 → 2023: 12,665 → 13,719. 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.
Commuting from Columbus: about 15 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Columbus workers work from home, vs 11% across Nebraska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,735 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Nebraska: 86% 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.
A workday in Columbus: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 6,224 residents head out to work, 6,027 work right here, and 7,692 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.12 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
13% of working residents work in Columbus Township
Where Columbus clocks in
13% of workers
7% of workers
3% 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.
How far Columbus goes to work
About 19% 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.
In Columbus, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Columbus is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns, #22 of 57 in Nebraska. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.5% across Nebraska.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 12,269 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). 6.7% of Columbus households have no vehicle (Nebraska 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Columbus’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 18,000 to 34,000, Columbus ranks 1,012th of 1,516 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 272 | Papillion NE | 25,127 | $112K | 5.3% | 3.2% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,010 | Lawndale CA | 29,892 | $85K | 13.0% | 9.7% | 4% | B− |
| 1,011 | Vernon CT | 30,842 | $85K | 13.4% | 6.6% | 10% | B− |
| 1,012 | Columbus NE | 25,248 | $65K | 11.3% | 2.4% | 49% | B− |
| 1,013 | Blackman Township MI | 24,987 | $61K | 10.5% | 3.7% | 16% | B− |
| 1,014 | Melrose Park IL | 23,936 | $66K | 12.3% | 5.7% | 10% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,023 | Fremont NE | 28,350 | $71K | 11.6% | 4.2% | 43% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,133 | Hastings NE | 25,121 | $64K | 14.8% | 2.9% | 54% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,516 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Nebraska.
Work next door: 13% of Columbus’ workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Columbus workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus | – | B− | A− | 15 min | $64,626 |
| Columbus Township | 13% | B+ | C+ | 17 min | $97,848 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Columbus Township. 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?
$64,626 (±$4,890) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,475 across Nebraska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Columbus?
11.3%, against 10.6% across Nebraska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Columbus?
15 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Nebraska and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Columbus work?
49% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbus Township (13%, 3 mi), Omaha (7%, 69 mi), Lincoln (3%, 56 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Columbus walkable?
Columbus is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Columbus without a car?
0% 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.