Columbia is a very small city located in the state of Kentucky. With a population of 4,880 people and seven associated neighborhoods, Columbia is the 89th largest community in Kentucky.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Columbia is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce 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 sales jobs (12.91%), office and administrative support (12.18%), and healthcare (7.27%). Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 16.81% of people work from home. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce it is high relative to the nation. 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. The overall crime rate in Columbia is one of the lowest in the US. This makes it one of the safer places to live in the country in terms of crime. Residents of the city have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 18.18 minutes getting to work every day. Being a small city, Columbia does not have a public transit system used by locals to get to and from work.In terms of college education, Columbia is nearly on par with the US average for all cities of 21.84%: 19.83% of adults 25 and older in Columbia have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree. The per capita income in Columbia in 2022 was $28,077, 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 $112,308 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 Croatian. The most common language spoken in Columbia is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.
