Columbia, MO population, income and ZIP codes

Columbia city is a mid-size city in Missouri, with 127,200 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #4 of 1,082 ranked by population — larger than 99% of them. The median age here is 29.2 years against 39.1 nationally, a distinctly younger profile, typical of places with students, military posts or a fast-growing family population. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.

Households in Columbia city earn a median of $64,488 a year, 17.9% below the national figure of $78,538 and 16% above the $55,543 median for the 374 Missouri cities we cover. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 20% of residents here, well above the 12.4% national rate, which is the single clearest signal in this dataset that median income here is carried by a narrow band of households.

The typical owner-occupied home in Columbia city is valued at $268,300, 11.6% below the national figure and 76% above the $152,400 peer median, while median gross rent runs $1,067 a month, 24.1% below the national figure, or roughly $12,804 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 19.9% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 4.2×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is harder here than in the average US market. 49.4% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

A median age of 29.2 means a large student or early-career population; income medians in places like this understate household resources, since many residents are supported from outside the address.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.