Work & commute · Columbus

Work & commute in Columbus, NC

Most working residents leave Columbus for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Charlotte (9%), Asheville (6%) and Tryon (6%). Half commute less than 25 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

42 of 423 working residents

Typical commute

25 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 381 Columbus residents head out of town to work, 42 work right here, and 1,813 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Columbus.

381live here, work elsewhere

42live and work here

1,813work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Columbus goes to work

Columbus (in town)right here

10%42

Charlotte77.9 mi away

9%37

Asheville29.3 mi away

6%25

Tryon3.3 mi away

6%24

Hendersonville14.8 mi away

4%15

Spartanburg, SC26.5 mi away

2%9

Forest City20 mi away

2%8

Landrum, SC5.5 mi away

2%8

Saluda7.8 mi away

1%5

Greensboro146.1 mi away

1%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

58%245

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.

29%

21%

15%

35%

29%Under 10 mi

21%10–24 mi

15%25–50 mi

35%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Columbus is a job hub

4.39jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Columbus are

1,855 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

1,855 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities7%

Services (health, schools, offices…)86%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month38%

Over $3,333 a month43%

Jobs Columbus residents hold

423 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month49%

−5%

Jobs based in Columbus, 2013 → 2023: 1,957 → 1,855. 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.