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.
Overall, Columbia’s crime rate is one of the lowest in the nation, which makes a great place to live if safety is an important concern.
One of the benefits of Columbia is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 17.93 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.
Being a small city, Columbia does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.
The education level of Columbia citizens, measured as those with bachelor's degrees or advanced degrees, is similar to the national average for all American cities and towns. 19.38% of adults 25 and older in Columbia have a college degree.
The per capita income in Columbia in 2018 was $25,563, 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 $102,252 for a family of four. However, Columbia contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
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, European, and Scots-Irish.
The most common language spoken in Columbia is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.
