Columbia is a place where college students are a big part of the character and culture of the town. Small towns have often struggled with declining populations over the past few decades, but the presence of such a large college student population has helped Columbia to fight this trend. Not only does the college population add spending and jobs to local economy, but it also contributes a very tangible, youthful energy to the town.
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.
Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Columbia spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 17.93 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the city are less than they would otherwise be.
As is often the case in a small city, Columbia doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.
The percentage of adults in Columbia who are college-educated is close to the national average for all communities of 21.84%: 19.38% of the adults in Columbia have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in Columbia in 2022 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.
