Centralia vs Columbia

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

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

Columbia has the higher population (127,200 vs 4,615 in Centralia). Columbia has the higher median household income ($64,488 vs $51,868 in Centralia). Columbia has the higher median home value ($268,300 vs $165,600 in Centralia).

Population, income & housing

	Centralia	Columbia
Population	4,615	127,200
Median age	45.4 yrs	29.2 yrs
Median household income	$51,868	$64,488
Median home value	$165,600	$268,300
Median gross rent	$723	$1,067
Housing units	2,175	55,441
Homeownership rate	69.2%	49.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	32.4%	56.5%
Unemployment rate	6.9%	3.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Centralia	Columbia
Population	4,213 → 4,615 (+9.5%)	121,230 → 127,200 (+4.9%)
Median household income	$51,512 → $51,868 (+0.7%)	$51,276 → $64,488 (+25.8%)
Median home value	$111,800 → $165,600 (+48.1%)	$191,800 → $268,300 (+39.9%)
Median gross rent	$576 → $723 (+25.5%)	$887 → $1,067 (+20.3%)

Centralia

Population

4,2134,615

Median household income

$51,512$51,868

Median home value

$111,800$165,600

Median gross rent

$576$723

Columbia

Population

121,230127,200

Median household income

$51,276$64,488

Median home value

$191,800$268,300

Median gross rent

$887$1,067

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Centralia	Columbia
Under 5	8.2%	5.4%
5 to 17	13.7%	13.8%
18 to 24	6.6%	24.1%
25 to 34	14.1%	15.3%
35 to 44	7.1%	12.5%
45 to 54	12.8%	8.9%
55 to 64	14.6%	8.8%
65 to 74	14.6%	6.4%
75 and over	8.4%	4.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Centralia	Columbia
White (non-Hispanic)	88.3%	72.5%
Black or African American	0.0%	12.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.1%
Asian	0.0%	6.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.4%	0.3%
Two or more races	8.5%	4.7%
Hispanic or Latino	2.8%	4.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Centralia	Columbia
No high school diploma	11.4%	4.7%
High school graduate	31.0%	16.9%
Some college or associate's	25.3%	21.8%
Bachelor's degree	24.6%	30.1%
Graduate or professional degree	7.7%	26.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Centralia	Columbia
Drove alone	66.9%	74.1%
Carpooled	18.5%	7.6%
Public transit	0.0%	1.2%
Walked	1.2%	5.6%
Bicycle	2.6%	1.0%
Worked from home	10.8%	9.6%
Other means	0.0%	0.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Centralia	Columbia
1-unit, detached	78.0%	53.1%
1-unit, attached	2.9%	5.7%
2 to 4 units	12.4%	12.5%
5 to 19 units	1.1%	16.1%
20 or more units	2.2%	10.9%
Mobile home & other	3.4%	1.8%

Poverty & households

	Centralia	Columbia
Poverty rate	12.0%	20.0%
Average household size	2.26	2.29
Mean commute (minutes)	20	17
Median year structure built	1972	1993