Columbus, MS

Census Place

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2023 Population

23,616

1.17% 1-year decline

US Senator

N/ARoger Wicker

Republican Party

US Senator

N/ACindy Hyde-Smith

Republican Party

2023 Median Age

39.6

2.86% 1-year increase

About

The 5 largest ethnic groups in Columbus, MS are Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) (63.1%), White (Non-Hispanic) (31.6%), Two+ (Non-Hispanic) (1.42%), Asian (Non-Hispanic) (1.29%), and Two+ (Hispanic) (1.22%).

None of the households in Columbus, MS reported speaking a non-English language at home as their primary shared language. This does not consider the potential multi-lingual nature of households, but only the primary self-reported language spoken by all members of the household.

98.9% of the residents in Columbus, MS are U.S. citizens.

The largest universities in Columbus, MS are Mississippi University for Women (873 degrees awarded in 2023).

Most people in Columbus, MS drove alone to work, and the average commute time was 17.8 minutes. The average car ownership in Columbus, MS was 2 cars per household.

United States Mississippi Lowndes County, MS Columbus, MS Golden Triangle Region--Columbus, Starkville, & West Point Cities PUMA, MS

Population & Diversity

Columbus, MS is home to a population of 23.6k people, from which 98.9% are citizens. As of N/A, N/A% of Columbus, MS residents were born outside of the country (N/A people).

In 2023, there were 2 times more Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) residents (14.9k people) in Columbus, MS than any other race or ethnicity. There were 7.47k White (Non-Hispanic) and 335 Two+ (Non-Hispanic) residents, the second and third most common ethnic groups.

Population & Diversity

Citizenship

98.9%

2023 Citizenship

98.9%

2022 Citizenship

The following chart shows US citizenship percentages in Columbus, MS compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Diversity

Race and Ethnicity

The 3 largest ethnic groups in Columbus, MS

Black or African American (Non-Hispanic)
14.9k ± 661
White (Non-Hispanic)
7.47k ± 617
Two+ (Non-Hispanic)
335 ± 198

2.15%

Hispanic Population

507 people

2.15% of the people in Columbus, MS are hispanic (507 people).

The following chart shows the 7 races represented in Columbus, MS as a share of the total population.

Economy

The economy of Columbus, MS employs N/A people. The largest industries in Columbus, MS are , and the highest paying industries are .

Employment

Occupations

N/A

N/A Value

± N/A

The most common job groups, by number of people living in Columbus, MS, are . This chart illustrates the share breakdown of the primary jobs held by residents of Columbus, MS.

Unemployment Insurance Claims

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for false.

This chart shows weekly unemployment insurance claims in Mississippi (not-seasonally adjusted) compared with the four states with the most similar impact.

The most recent data point uses Advance State Claims data, which can be revised in subsequent weeks.

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Industries

Employment by Industries

N/A

N/A Value

± N/A

The most common employment sectors for those who live in Columbus, MS, are . This chart shows the share breakdown of the primary industries for residents of Columbus, MS, though some of these residents may live in Columbus, MS and work somewhere else. Census data is tagged to a residential address, not a work address.

Median Earnings by Industry

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Median earning men ± N/A

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Median earning women ± N/A

The industries with the best median earnings for men in 2023 are Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance ($68,650), Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities ($61,588), and Manufacturing ($48,103).

The industries with the best median earnings for women in 2023 are Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities ($49,159), Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance ($41,029), and Manufacturing ($40,467).

Employment by Industry Sector

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Mississippi.

Y-Axis

1.38%

Year-over-year growth

Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

As of February 2023, there are 1.17M people employed in Mississippi. This represents a 1.38% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

Right after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, during April 2020, a general dip can be seen across industry sectors, resulting in an overall decline in employment by 12.5%.

The following chart shows monthly employment numbers for each industry sector in Mississippi.

Civics

In the 2024 presidential election, the popular vote in Mississippi went to Donald J. Trump with 60.9% of the vote. The runner-up was Kamala Harris (38%), followed by Robert Kennedy (0.439%).

Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith are the senators currently representing the state of Mississippi. In the United States, senators are elected to 6-year terms with the terms for individual senators staggered.

Mississippi is currently represented by 4 members in the U.S. house, and members of the House of Representives are elected to 2-year terms.

Presidential Elections

Presidential Popular Vote Over Time

2024 Election Results

N/ADonald J. Trump (60.9%)
Republican Party
N/AKamala Harris (38%)
Democratic Party
N/ARobert Kennedy (0.439%)
Independent Party

In the 2024 presidential election, the popular vote in Mississippi went to Donald J. Trump with 60.9% of the vote. The runner-up was Kamala Harris (38%), followed by Robert Kennedy (0.439%).

The following chart shows the popular vote results in Mississippi for each registered party from 1976 to 2024.

Senator Elections

US Senators from Mississippi

N/ARoger Wicker

Senator from Mississippi

Assumed office on December 31, 2007
Appointed to the seat following the resignation of Trent Lott.

N/ACindy Hyde-Smith

Senator from Mississippi

Assumed office on April 9, 2018
Appointed to the seat following the resignation of Thad Cochran.

Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith are the senators currently representing Mississippi.

In the United States, senators are elected to 6-year terms with the terms for individual senators staggered.

The following chart shows elected senators in Mississippi over time, excluding special elections, colored by their political party.

US Representative Elections

US Representatives from Mississippi

Mississippi is currently represented by 4 members in the U.S. house.

Members of the House of Representives are elected to 2-year terms, and the following chart shows the how the members for Mississippi have changed over time starting in 2008.

Education

In 2023, universities in Columbus, MS awarded 873 degrees. The student population of Columbus, MS in 2023 is skewed towards women, with 495 male students and 1,732 female students.

Most students graduating from Universities in Columbus, MS are White (522 and 60.2%), followed by Black or African American (321 and 37%), Asian (12 and 1.38%), and American Indian or Alaska Native (9 and 1.04%).

The largest universities in Columbus, MS by number of degrees awarded are Mississippi University for Women (873 and 100%).

The most popular majors in Columbus, MS are Registered Nursing (394 and 45.1%), General Business Administration & Management (148 and 17%), and Speech-Language Pathology (60 and 6.87%).

The median tuition cost in Columbus, MS for a public four year colleges is $7,992 for in-state students and $7,992 for out-of-state students.

Admissions & Enrollments

Applicants, Admissions & Enrolled

University

Measure

In 2023 in Columbus, MS, the percentage of applicants admitted was 100%, while the percentage of admitted who enrolled was 28.8%. The number of students enrolled in 2023 was 2,227 (22.2% men and 77.8% women).

The line chart shows the evolution of the percentage of applicants admitted, admitted who enrolled or the number of students enrolled according to the option selected in the upper button.

Enrollments by Gender and Races

Universities

In 2023 there were 2,227 students enrolled in Columbus, MS, 22.2% men and 77.8% women.

By race, the largest number of students enrolled was concentrated in White with 1,339 records, of which 75.7% were women and 24.3% men.

Completions

Concentrations

Most Common

General Business Administration & Management
130 degrees awarded
Speech-Language Pathology
34 degrees awarded
Registered Nursing
357 degrees awarded

In 2023, the most common concentation for Bachelors Degree recipients in Columbus, MS was General Business Administration & Management with 130 degrees awarded.

This visualization illustrates the percentage of students graduating with a Bachelors Degree from schools in Columbus, MS according to their major.

Universities

Gender

Race

Mississippi University for Women

Largest Universities by degrees awarded

873 degrees awarded

In 2023, the institution with the largest number of graduating students was Mississippi University for Women with 873 degrees awarded.

Student Diversity

University

In 2023, 127 men were awarded degrees from institutions in Columbus, MS, which is 0.17 times less than the 746 female students who received degrees in the same year.

In 2023, the most common race/ethnicity group awarded degrees at institutions was White students. These 522 degrees mean that there were 1.63 times more degrees awarded to White students then the next closest race/ethnicity group, Black or African American, with 321 degrees awarded.

Awarded Degrees over Time

The graph shows the evolution of awarded degrees by degrees. Under the paragraphs, the average number of awarded degrees by university in each degree is shown.

Tuition

Average Net Price by Sector

Universities

Public, 4-year or above ($7,992) is the sector with the highest median state tuition in 2023.

Public, 4-year or above ($100) is the sector with the highest median state fee in 2023.

Public, 4-year or above ($1,600) is the sector with the highest average net price of books and supplies.

The graph shows the average net price by sector and year.

Working Population

Educational Pyramid

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Mississippi.

Measure

In 2022, 1.04% of men over 25 years of age had not completed any academic degree (no schooling), while 0.852% of women were in the same situation.

This visualization shows the gender distribution of the population according to the academic level reached.

Educational Attainment

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Mississippi.

Race

The most common educational levels obtained by the working population in 2022 were High School or Equivalent (690k), Some college (543k), and Secondary Education (397k).

This visualization illustrates the percentage distribution of the population according to the highest educational level reached. You can filter the data by race by using the selector above.

Housing & Living

People in Columbus, MS have an average commute time of 17.8 minutes, and they drove alone to work. Car ownership in Columbus, MS is approximately the same as the national average, with an average of 2 cars per household.

Housing

Rent vs Own

N/A%

Homeownership

N/A

67.2%

Homeowners with Mortgage

2023

This chart shows the percentage of owner in Columbus, MS compared it's parent and neighboring geographies.

Equity

Income by Location

Use the dropdown to filter by race/ethnicity.

Race/Ethnicity

The following map shows all of the places in Columbus, MS colored by their Median Household Income (Total).

Household Income

Please note that the buckets used in this visualization were not evenly distributed by ACS when publishing the data.

N/A

Median Household Income

± N/A

9.98k

Number of Households

± 879

The following chart displays the households in Columbus, MS distributed between a series of income buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households have an income in the < $10k range.

Wage Distribution

The closest comparable wage GINI for Columbus, MS is from Mississippi.

0.452

2022 Wage GINI in Mississippi

0.45

2021 Wage GINI in Mississippi

In 2022, the income inequality in Mississippi was 0.452 according to the GINI calculation of the wage distribution. Income inequality had a 0.553% growth from 2021 to 2022, which means that wage distribution grew somewhat less even. The GINI for Mississippi was lower than than the national average of 0.478. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly in Mississippi in comparison to the national average.

This chart shows the number of workers in Mississippi across various wage buckets compared to the national average.

Transportation

Commuter Transportation

Most Common Commute in 2023

Drove Alone (87.7%)
Worked At Home (5.28%)
Carpooled (4.92%)

In 2023, 87.7% of workers in Columbus, MS drove alone to work, followed by those who worked at home (5.28%) and those who carpooled to work (4.92%).

The following chart shows the number of households using each mode of transportation over time, using a logarithmic scale on the y-axis to help better show variations in the smaller means of commuting.

Commute Time

17.8 minutes

Average Travel Time

Using averages, employees in Columbus, MS have a shorter commute time (17.8 minutes) than the normal US worker (26.6 minutes). Additionally, 1.88% of the workforce in Columbus, MS have "super commutes" in excess of 90 minutes.

The chart below shows how the median household income in Columbus, MS compares to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Car Ownership

2 cars

Average Number

The following chart displays the households in Columbus, MS distributed between a series of car ownership buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households in Columbus, MS have 2 cars.

Poverty

Poverty & Diversity

N/A% of the population for whom poverty status is determined in Columbus, MS (N/A out of N/A people) live below the poverty line, a number that is approximately the same as the national average of 12.4%. The largest demographic living in poverty are N/A N/A, followed by N/A N/A and then N/A N/A.

The most common racial or ethnic group living below the poverty line in Columbus, MS is false, followed by false and false.

The Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who classifies as impoverished. If a family's total income is less than the family's threshold than that family and every individual in it is considered to be living in poverty.

Social Needs

Data only available at the state level.

Most prevalent states

California
35,798 individuals
New York
5,087 individuals
Florida
4,915 individuals

In 2017, California had the highest estimated number of chronically homeless individuals in the nation, at 35,798. New York has the second highest (5,087), followed by Florida (4,915).

The following map shows the estimated number of chronically homeless individuals by state over multiple years.

The following chart shows the number of people with health coverage by gender.

Uninsured People

N/A%

Uninsured

N/A%

Employer Coverage

N/A%

Medicaid

N/A%

Medicare

N/A%

Non-Group

N/A%

Military or VA

The following chart shows how the percent of uninsured individuals in Columbus, MS changed over time compared with the percent of individuals enrolled in various types of health insurance.

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