Columbia is a very small city located in the state of Kentucky. With a population of 4,685 people and seven associated neighborhoods, Columbia is the 89th largest community in Kentucky.Unlike some cities, Columbia isn’t mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Columbia are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Columbia is a city of sales and office workers, professionals, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Columbia who work in office and administrative support (13.50%), sales jobs (12.44%), and teaching (8.98%). A relatively large number of people in Columbia telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 16.75% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Columbia is a small town with a large college student population. Because of this, there is a real youthful, hip vibe to the place, and much of the life in the town is centered on the college. This has helped Columbia to buck the trend of other small towns that have suffered declining populations over the past 20 to 30 years. Spending by students, and faculty and staff jobs, are a big part of the local economy. Columbia’s overall crime rate ranks among the lowest in the nation, making it a very safe place to live. One of the benefits of Columbia is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 17.11 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result. Columbia is a small city, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.The percentage of people in Columbia who are college-educated is somewhat higher than the average US community of 21.84%: 25.26% of adults in Columbia have at least a bachelor's degree. The per capita income in Columbia in 2022 was $26,780, which is middle income relative to Kentucky, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $107,120 for a family of four. However, Columbia contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Columbia is a somewhat ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Columbia home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Columbia residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Columbia include English, German, Irish, Scots-Irish, and European. The most common language spoken in Columbia is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.
