Columbia is a larger medium-sized town located in the state of Maryland. With a population of 104,681 people and 20 associated neighborhoods, Columbia is the second largest community in Maryland. Housing costs in Columbia are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in Maryland.Columbia is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 91.88% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Columbia is a town of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Columbia who work in management occupations (13.76%), computer science and math (10.88%), and office and administrative support (9.39%). Also of interest is that Columbia has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US. One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 18.49% 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. If knowledge is power, Columbia is a pretty powerful place. 63.57% of the adults in Columbia have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns. The per capita income in Columbia in 2022 was $59,338, which is wealthy relative to Maryland and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $237,352 for a family of four. However, Columbia contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. Columbia is an extremely ethnically-diverse town. 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 German, Irish, English, Italian, and Polish. In addition, Columbia has a lot of people living here who were born outside of the US (20.73%). The most common language spoken in Columbia is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.
