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Data on this report is based on areas within the legal city boundary, outlined in black on the map. Any additional neighborhoods shown on the map are associated with the city by name and are included for reference only.

Columbia, KY
Real Estate & Demographic Data






Columbia profile


Living in Columbia



Columbia is a very small city located in the state of Kentucky. With a population of 4,846 people and seven associated neighborhoods, Columbia is the 89th largest community in Kentucky.

Telecommuters are a relatively large percentage of the workforce: 16.02% 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 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.

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%: 19.38% of adults 25 and older 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.