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Place dossier plate
SheetNC-COLUMBIA-NC · Columbia, NC 674 pop · income 1st pct · 1 tracts
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Columbia
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Columbia on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Yaurel comuni… · lowest
13,058
Yaurel comuni… · lowest
13,058 median HH income
11.0% of the leader · rank #1
Toa Alta zona… · near
21,098
Toa Alta zona… · near
21,098 median HH income
17.8% of the leader · rank #2
Lares zona ur… · near
21,108
Lares zona ur… · near
21,108 median HH income
17.8% of the leader · rank #3
Castleberry · near
21,111
Castleberry · near
21,111 median HH income
17.8% of the leader · rank #4
Columbia · this city
21,118
Columbia · this city
21,118 median HH income
17.8% of the leader · rank #5
Jobos comunid… · near
21,119
Jobos comunid… · near
21,119 median HH income
17.8% of the leader · rank #6
Duck · highest
118,750
Duck · highest
118,750 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Columbia on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 674.
Columbia ranks in the 1st percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
1st
percentile, household income
18th
percentile, home value
48th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Columbia, NC
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 674 residents in Columbia, a small town within North Carolina. Households in Columbia report a median income of $21,118 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 38.1%. Typical homes in Columbia are valued around $120,700, and the median resident age is 39.4 years. 16.1% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 56.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 3 residential building permits were authorized in Columbia (Building Boom), up 200% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data.
Living costs in North Carolina run below the national norm: the state registers 94.3 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,161 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in North Carolina run around $215, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 66.7 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Columbia's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from housing and income to work and mobility to schools and households to population change to within-city variation to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Columbia, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Columbia?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.7 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 38.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
What does the journey to work look like in Columbia?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 65.8%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
Which cities make useful reference points for Columbia?
Within North Carolina, the closest population matches are Saluda (676 residents, $52,946 income); Robbinsville (677 residents, $17,841 income); Sedalia (680 residents, $78,750 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Martin, LA (674 residents); Marion, MI (674 residents); Pine Valley, NY (674 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Columbia?
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 16.1% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
Matched public schools
3
Bachelor's degree+
16.1%
Poverty estimate
38.1%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Is Columbia growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +1 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 3 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+0.2%
2025 estimate
613
2020 estimate
612
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 38.1% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
94.3 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, North Carolina average
F
City profile score · Columbia, NC
21/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living B-
94.3 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share F
16.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$21,118
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
38.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Columbia profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 67/100 (B-) · 94.3 index
Bachelor's+ share: 23/100 (F) · 16.1%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $21,118
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 38.1%
How does Columbia compare to other US cities?
Where Columbia sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income1% higher than other cities
Home value18% pricier than other cities
Median rent48% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Columbia against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to North Carolina only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
North Carolina-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Columbia near the bottom of North Carolina's cities
Among the 746 North Carolina cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Columbia ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Columbia only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#689 of 700
2nd percentile in North Carolina
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 746
0th percentile in North Carolina
Median Home Value
#565 of 708
20th percentile in North Carolina
Poverty Rate
#27 of 746
96th percentile in North Carolina
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#504 of 746
32nd percentile in North Carolina
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within North Carolina only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
1st percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Columbia's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$120,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 82% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Columbia's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.7×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,823 of 15,516
More affordable than 11% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#10,302 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 5.7×, Columbia sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,823 of 15,516 and #10,302 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$21,118Columbia, NC median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Columbia, NC median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Columbia, NC.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)16.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)38.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)56.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
674
Median Income
$21,118
Median Home Value
$120,700
Median Age
39.4
Poverty Rate
38.1%
Labor force participation
56.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
16.1%
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Columbia's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
612 residents
2021
616 residents
2022
613 residents
2023
610 residents
2024
610 residents
2025
613 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
3
housing units authorized
Single-Family
3
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
4.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1
1
0
$0.1M
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
2
2
0
$0.3M
2024
3
3
0
$0.4M
Permit volume increased 200% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
65.8%
Carpool
30.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.7%
Work from Home
0.8%
Based on 263 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
North Carolina statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $215
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across North Carolina at $215 (electricity about $115 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are North Carolina statewide averages, not a meter reading for Columbia. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
North Carolina's BEA cost-of-living index is 94.3 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Columbia is $1,161/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to North Carolina statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 66.7 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a North Carolina statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Columbia sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Columbia compares to similar-size North Carolina cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.