Columbia vs Waterloo

A side-by-side comparison of Columbia and Waterloo: population, income, housing, and more.

Columbia and Waterloo are places in Illinois. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Columbia has the higher population (11,063 vs 11,055 in Waterloo). Columbia has the higher median household income ($107,922 vs $92,005 in Waterloo). Columbia has the higher median home value ($290,100 vs $237,900 in Waterloo).

Population, income & housing

	Columbia	Waterloo
Population	11,063	11,055
Median age	39.9 yrs	40.2 yrs
Median household income	$107,922	$92,005
Median home value	$290,100	$237,900
Median gross rent	$1,089	$873
Housing units	4,743	4,651
Homeownership rate	81.9%	76.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	51.0%	36.4%
Unemployment rate	1.0%	3.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Columbia	Waterloo
Population	10,752 → 11,063 (+2.9%)	10,367 → 11,055 (+6.6%)
Median household income	$98,977 → $107,922 (+9.0%)	$67,682 → $92,005 (+35.9%)
Median home value	$217,300 → $290,100 (+33.5%)	$192,100 → $237,900 (+23.8%)
Median gross rent	$887 → $1,089 (+22.8%)	$830 → $873 (+5.2%)

Columbia

Population

10,75211,063

Median household income

$98,977$107,922

Median home value

$217,300$290,100

Median gross rent

$887$1,089

Waterloo

Population

10,36711,055

Median household income

$67,682$92,005

Median home value

$192,100$237,900

Median gross rent

$830$873

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Columbia	Waterloo
Under 5	6.8%	5.4%
5 to 17	18.4%	16.4%
18 to 24	3.9%	8.5%
25 to 34	13.2%	11.1%
35 to 44	13.4%	16.4%
45 to 54	15.3%	8.9%
55 to 64	13.6%	13.1%
65 to 74	8.2%	12.4%
75 and over	7.1%	7.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Columbia	Waterloo
White (non-Hispanic)	94.1%	95.4%
Black or African American	0.9%	0.8%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.1%
Asian	0.3%	1.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.6%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.8%	0.8%
Hispanic or Latino	1.3%	1.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Columbia	Waterloo
No high school diploma	2.8%	3.8%
High school graduate	16.9%	22.4%
Some college or associate's	29.3%	37.4%
Bachelor's degree	29.9%	23.6%
Graduate or professional degree	21.0%	12.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Columbia	Waterloo
Drove alone	84.1%	76.8%
Carpooled	2.6%	7.6%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.5%	1.4%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	12.1%	11.6%
Other means	0.7%	2.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Columbia	Waterloo
1-unit, detached	79.9%	75.4%
1-unit, attached	4.5%	4.4%
2 to 4 units	3.8%	7.8%
5 to 19 units	8.1%	9.5%
20 or more units	2.4%	2.9%
Mobile home & other	1.3%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Columbia	Waterloo
Poverty rate	5.0%	5.5%
Average household size	2.46	2.47
Mean commute (minutes)	26	27
Median year structure built	1992	1991