Photo: Denimadept · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Columbia commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
A typical one-way commute lasts 20 minutes; New Hampshire averages 27, the U.S. 26. There are 36 jobs in Columbia, against 286 working residents. At home: 11% of workers have no commute at all (New Hampshire 17%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Columbia
Columbia and Colebrook trade workers both ways
Colebrook is the top workplace for Columbia residents (38%) and also where the most people who work in Columbia come from (44% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Columbia is a place people come home to
There are 36 jobs based in Columbia, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Columbia has about 420 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% 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 286 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
38% of working residents work in Colebrook
Where Columbia clocks in
38% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Columbia
On a workday 283 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 33 people come in from elsewhere.
About 420 people are in Columbia on a workday afternoon, 37% 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 2023, primary jobs.
How far Columbia goes to work
About 30% 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.
Goods jobs make up 64% of work in Columbia
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Columbia, 2013 → 2023: 30 → 36. 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 Columbia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Columbia: about 20 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Columbia workers work from home, vs 17% across New Hampshire. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 270 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across New Hampshire: 87% 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.
38% of Columbia works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Colebrook. Darker towns draw more of Columbia’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 Columbia: questions
What is the median household income in Columbia?
$57,917 (±$13,190) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,031 across New Hampshire and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Columbia?
10.7%, against 7.2% across New Hampshire and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Columbia?
20 minutes each way on average, against 27 across New Hampshire and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Columbia work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Colebrook (38%, 7 mi), Stewartstown (5%, 11 mi), Pittsburg (4%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Columbia without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Columbia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Columbia
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.