Bethel vs Columbus

A side-by-side comparison of Bethel and Columbus: population, income, housing, and more.

Bethel and Columbus are places in Minnesota. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Columbus has the higher population (4,211 vs 559 in Bethel). Columbus has the higher median household income ($117,917 vs $102,500 in Bethel). Columbus has the higher median home value ($439,200 vs $260,200 in Bethel).

Population, income & housing

	Bethel	Columbus
Population	559	4,211
Median age	34.8 yrs	47.2 yrs
Median household income	$102,500	$117,917
Median home value	$260,200	$439,200
Median gross rent	$1,018	$1,534
Housing units	208	1,699
Homeownership rate	86.5%	87.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.4%	29.3%
Unemployment rate	7.6%	1.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Bethel	Columbus
Population	500 → 559 (+11.8%)	4,055 → 4,211 (+3.8%)
Median household income	$77,125 → $102,500 (+32.9%)	$89,773 → $117,917 (+31.4%)
Median home value	$182,800 → $260,200 (+42.3%)	$275,300 → $439,200 (+59.5%)
Median gross rent	$992 → $1,018 (+2.6%)	$888 → $1,534 (+72.7%)

Bethel

Population

500559

Median household income

$77,125$102,500

Median home value

$182,800$260,200

Median gross rent

$992$1,018

Columbus

Population

4,0554,211

Median household income

$89,773$117,917

Median home value

$275,300$439,200

Median gross rent

$888$1,534

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Bethel	Columbus
Under 5	5.2%	4.4%
5 to 17	14.8%	14.2%
18 to 24	12.5%	8.3%
25 to 34	18.1%	9.7%
35 to 44	10.7%	11.4%
45 to 54	15.2%	12.4%
55 to 64	17.7%	21.6%
65 to 74	3.8%	14.3%
75 and over	2.0%	3.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Bethel	Columbus
White (non-Hispanic)	91.8%	92.4%
Black or African American	0.4%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.4%	0.9%
Asian	1.6%	4.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	1.0%
Two or more races	4.3%	1.5%
Hispanic or Latino	1.3%	0.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Bethel	Columbus
No high school diploma	3.7%	1.7%
High school graduate	36.1%	31.3%
Some college or associate's	44.8%	37.6%
Bachelor's degree	11.4%	22.1%
Graduate or professional degree	4.0%	7.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Bethel	Columbus
Drove alone	74.4%	79.2%
Carpooled	9.6%	5.1%
Public transit	0.3%	0.0%
Walked	1.0%	0.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	14.1%	15.4%
Other means	0.6%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Bethel	Columbus
1-unit, detached	89.9%	92.3%
1-unit, attached	1.9%	0.5%
2 to 4 units	2.9%	3.8%
5 to 19 units	1.9%	0.0%
20 or more units	0.0%	3.4%
Mobile home & other	3.4%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Bethel	Columbus
Poverty rate	3.6%	3.4%
Average household size	2.69	2.57
Mean commute (minutes)	35	28
Median year structure built	1984	1984