Columbia is a somewhat small city located in the state of Mississippi. With a population of 5,727 people and four associated neighborhoods, Columbia is the 60th largest community in Mississippi.Because occupations involving physical labor dominate the local economy, Columbia is generally considered to be a blue-collar town. 35.58% of the Columbia workforce is employed in blue-collar occupations, compared to the national average of 27.7%. Overall, Columbia is a city of sales and office workers, service providers, and transportation and shipping workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Columbia who work in sales jobs (16.61%), healthcare suport services (12.86%), and office and administrative support (11.86%). One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 9.77% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes. Columbia is a small city, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.The percentage of people in Columbia with college degrees is quite a bit lower than the national average for cities and towns of 21.84%: just 12.66% of people over 25 have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree. The per capita income in Columbia in 2022 was $17,213, which is low income relative to Mississippi and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $68,852 for a family of four. Columbia is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Columbia home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Columbia residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Columbia include Irish, English, German, French, and Scots-Irish. The most common language spoken in Columbia is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Portuguese.
