Work & commute · Columbia

Work & commute in Columbia, CT

Most working residents leave Columbia for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Hartford (10%), Windham (10%) and Mansfield (7%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

151 of 2,392 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

32 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

22%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,241 Columbia residents head out of town to work, 151 work right here, and 920 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Columbia.

2,241live here, work elsewhere

151live and work here

920work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Columbia goes to work

Hartford20 mi away

10%241

Windham7.2 mi away

10%229

Mansfield7.7 mi away

7%159

Columbia (in town)right here

6%151

Manchester12.6 mi away

5%123

East Hartford16.2 mi away

4%105

Hebron5.1 mi away

2%54

South Windsor17.2 mi away

2%54

Norwich15 mi away

2%47

Glastonbury12.7 mi away

2%47

Everywhere elseother towns and states

49%1,182

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Columbia commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

28%

49%

15%

28%Under 10 mi

49%10–24 mi

15%25–50 mi

8%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Columbia is a commuter town

0.45jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.45 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Columbia are

1,071 jobs are based in Columbia. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Columbia’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Columbia

1,071 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities36%

Services (health, schools, offices…)45%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month60%

Jobs Columbia residents hold

2,392 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month71%

−2%

Jobs based in Columbia, 2013 → 2023: 1,090 → 1,071. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.