Work & commute · Columbus

Work & commute in Columbus, MS

40% of Columbus’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Starkville (5%), Tupelo (5%) and West Point (3%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

40%

3,210 of 8,121 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 4,911 Columbus residents head out of town to work, 3,210 work right here, and 12,606 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Columbus.

4,911live here, work elsewhere

3,210live and work here

12,606work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Columbus goes to work

Columbus (in town)right here

40%3,210

Starkville24.4 mi away

5%404

Tupelo55.9 mi away

5%397

West Point15.9 mi away

3%226

Jackson133.3 mi away

2%172

Columbus AFB8.5 mi away

2%154

Meridian79.4 mi away

1%77

Aberdeen23.7 mi away

1%68

Oxford87.1 mi away

1%62

Amory33 mi away

1%50

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%3,301

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

How far

How far Columbus commutes

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

50%

15%

29%

50%Under 10 mi

15%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

29%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Columbus is a job hub

1.95jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.9 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Columbus are

15,816 jobs are based in Columbus. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Columbus’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Columbus

15,816 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month45%

Jobs Columbus residents hold

8,121 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month40%

Over $3,333 a month39%

−5%

Jobs based in Columbus, 2013 → 2023: 16,666 → 15,816. 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.