Work & commute · Columbia

Work & commute in Columbia, IL

Most working residents leave Columbia for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are St. Louis (14%), Belleville (5%) and Waterloo (3%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

719 of 5,565 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 4,846 Columbia residents head out of town to work, 719 work right here, and 2,375 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Columbia.

4,846live here, work elsewhere

719live and work here

2,375work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Columbia goes to work

St. Louis, MO12.4 mi away

14%796

Columbia (in town)right here

13%719

Belleville12.8 mi away

5%278

Waterloo8.8 mi away

3%176

Creve Coeur, MO18.7 mi away

2%112

Maryland Heights, MO22.6 mi away

2%97

Chicago269 mi away

2%96

Chesterfield, MO24 mi away

2%90

Clayton, MO14.3 mi away

1%81

Springfield97.1 mi away

1%70

Everywhere elseother towns and states

55%3,050

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.

27%

52%

14%

27%Under 10 mi

52%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Columbia is a commuter town

0.56jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Columbia are

3,094 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

3,094 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month50%

Jobs Columbia residents hold

5,565 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month67%

−5%

Jobs based in Columbia, 2013 → 2023: 3,255 → 3,094. 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.