100% of Columbia’s working residents leave town for work
Most working residents leave Columbia for work: only 0% work in town. The top destinations are New York (8%), Newton (5%) and Blairstown (5%). Half commute less than 30 miles.
Columbia quiets down on a workday
On a workday 88 residents head out to work, 0 work right here, and 68 people come in from elsewhere.
About 150 people are in Columbia on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
8% of working residents work in New York
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Columbia clocks in
8% of workers
5% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Columbia commutes less than 30 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 26% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
69% of the jobs in Columbia pay over $3,333 a month
68 jobs are based in Columbia. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Columbia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Columbia, 2013 → 2023: 88 → 68. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Working from home in Columbia
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
of Columbia workers work from home, vs 17% across New Jersey. Their commute is the hallway.
Columbia and the towns next door
Darker towns draw more of Columbia’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
- Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
More of Columbia
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Columbia, from the people who make the trip.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.