Columbia, Missouri demographics

Columbia, MO demographics: median age 29.5; 56.7% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree. Age, race, households, languages and education, ACS 2020–2024 with margins of error.

ACS 2020–2024 · Columbia city, Missouri · Incorporated city · GEOID 2915670. The survey estimates a population of 128,548 for its five-year window. This is separate from the annual July 2025 population estimate on the city overview.

Median age in Columbia is 29.5 years, with a 90% margin of error of 0.4 years. There are 52,564 households (±751). Age and household distributions show how these totals are composed; they do not establish which neighborhood suits a particular person.

Every count and share is an estimate. “±” is a 90% margin of error (MOE); pp means percentage points. Derived shares use the category count divided by the named universe. Aggregated category MOEs and percentage MOEs are approximate. A margin larger than half its estimate is flagged as low precision. Blank source uncertainty is shown as unavailable, never zero.

Age distribution and sex

City, state and U.S. estimates · ACS 2020–2024
Measure / survey universe	City estimate ± MOE	State estimate ± MOE	U.S. estimate ± MOE
Median age Total population · years	29.5 ±0.4	39.0 ±0.2	38.9 ±0.1

Age groups · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 128,548
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Missouri	U.S.
Under 18	24,091 ±987	18.7% ±0.8 pp	22.3%	22.0%
18–34	50,662 ±1,532	39.4% ±1.2 pp	22.3%	22.8%
35–64	38,912 ±1,298	30.3% ±1.0 pp	37.5%	38.0%
65 and older	14,883 ±828	11.6% ±0.6 pp	17.9%	17.2%

Sex categories as published by ACS · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 128,548
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Missouri	U.S.
Male	61,853 ±731	48.1% ±0.6 pp	49.3%	49.5%
Female	66,695 ±728	51.9% ±0.6 pp	50.7%	50.5%

The age groups are mutually exclusive and cover the entire population. The sex categories follow this ACS table’s published classification; they are not a survey of gender identity.

Race and Hispanic origin

Race · B02001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 128,548
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Missouri	U.S.
White alone	94,082 ±894	73.2% ±0.7 pp	77.5%	61.0%
Black or African American alone	15,705 ±957	12.2% ±0.7 pp	11.0%	12.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	87 ±40	0.1% ±0.0 pp	0.3%	0.9%
Asian alone	8,165 ±654	6.4% ±0.5 pp	2.1%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	100 ±67 · low precision	0.1% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.1%	0.2%
Some other race alone	1,496 ±375	1.2% ±0.3 pp	1.9%	7.1%
Two or more races	8,913 ±1,086	6.9% ±0.8 pp	7.1%	12.6%

Hispanic or Latino origin · B03003 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 128,548
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Missouri	U.S.
Not Hispanic or Latino	122,868 ±546	95.6% ±0.4 pp	94.8%	80.7%
Hispanic or Latino	5,680 ±550	4.4% ±0.4 pp	5.2%	19.3%

Hispanic origin and race are separate questions. People of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race and appear in both tables. Do not add the Hispanic share to race shares. Race alone and two-or-more-race groups are the mutually exclusive categories of the race table.

Household types, children and living alone

Household types · B11001 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 52,564
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Missouri	U.S.
Married-couple family	18,866 ±951	35.9% ±1.7 pp	46.5%	46.9%
Other family: male householder, no spouse present	1,604 ±326	3.1% ±0.6 pp	4.6%	5.1%
Other family: female householder, no spouse present	5,416 ±677	10.3% ±1.3 pp	11.0%	12.2%
Nonfamily: householder living alone	18,688 ±1,149	35.6% ±2.1 pp	31.1%	28.7%
Nonfamily: householder not living alone	7,990 ±713	15.2% ±1.3 pp	6.7%	7.0%

Households with children · B11005 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 52,564
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Missouri	U.S.
Households with people under 18	13,184 ±807	25.1% ±1.5 pp	28.5%	29.5%
Households without people under 18	39,380 ±1,043	74.9% ±1.7 pp	71.5%	70.5%

Household size · B11016 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 52,564
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Missouri	U.S.
One-person nonfamily households	18,688 ±1,149	35.6% ±2.1 pp	31.1%	28.7%
Two-person households	17,374 ±1,067	33.1% ±2.0 pp	35.0%	33.8%
Three-person households	7,008 ±785	13.3% ±1.5 pp	14.1%	15.3%
Four-person households	6,373 ±573	12.1% ±1.1 pp	11.6%	12.6%
Five-person households	2,271 ±401	4.3% ±0.8 pp	5.2%	5.9%
Six-person households	553 ±166	1.1% ±0.3 pp	1.9%	2.2%
Seven or more people	297 ±166 · low precision	0.6% ±0.3 pp · low precision	1.1%	1.4%

A family household contains related people under the Census definition. A nonfamily household can contain one person or unrelated people sharing a home. Households with children can also appear in the household-type and size tables, so those tables must not be added together. Household estimates exclude people living in group quarters from the household universe.

Nativity and languages spoken at home

Nativity · B05002 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 128,548
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Missouri	U.S.
Native	118,148 ±786	91.9% ±0.6 pp	95.5%	85.9%
Foreign born	10,400 ±785	8.1% ±0.6 pp	4.5%	14.1%

Language spoken at home · C16001 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 5 and older: 121,942
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Missouri	U.S.
English only	108,642 ±1,013	89.1% ±0.8 pp	93.3%	77.7%
Spanish	3,663 ±622	3.0% ±0.5 pp	2.9%	13.6%
French, Haitian, or Cajun	1,090 ±273	0.9% ±0.2 pp	0.3%	0.7%
German or other West Germanic	402 ±201	0.3% ±0.2 pp	0.5%	0.5%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic	121 ±66 · low precision	0.1% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.5%	0.7%
Other Indo-European	1,721 ±462	1.4% ±0.4 pp	0.6%	2.0%
Korean	609 ±276	0.5% ±0.2 pp	0.1%	0.3%
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	1,450 ±368	1.2% ±0.3 pp	0.4%	1.1%
Vietnamese	577 ±336 · low precision	0.5% ±0.3 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.5%
Tagalog, including Filipino	320 ±237 · low precision	0.3% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.6%
Other Asian and Pacific Island	1,923 ±540	1.6% ±0.4 pp	0.5%	1.1%
Arabic	552 ±212	0.5% ±0.2 pp	0.2%	0.5%
Other and unspecified	872 ±396	0.7% ±0.3 pp	0.4%	0.8%

Foreign born means not a U.S. citizen at birth; it includes naturalized citizens. Language categories describe speech at home among people age five and older. A language other than English at home does not establish that someone cannot speak English. This city page uses the published C16001 summary categories because the more detailed B16001 table does not provide these city records in this release.

Educational attainment

Highest completed education · B15003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 25 and older: 73,408
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Missouri	U.S.
Less than high school graduate	3,129 ±510	4.3% ±0.7 pp	8.1%	10.4%
High school graduate or equivalency	12,621 ±1,050	17.2% ±1.4 pp	30.2%	26.0%
Some college, no degree	11,292 ±1,025	15.4% ±1.4 pp	20.8%	19.1%
Associate’s degree	4,711 ±524	6.4% ±0.7 pp	8.4%	8.8%
Bachelor’s degree	22,021 ±1,209	30.0% ±1.6 pp	19.8%	21.6%
Graduate or professional degree	19,634 ±1,197	26.7% ±1.6 pp	12.6%	14.1%

The denominator excludes residents under 25. Each person is counted in the highest attainment category they completed. This table does not measure the quality of local schools or the education level of every current student.

Residence one year earlier

Geographic mobility · B07003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 1 and older: 126,918
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Missouri	U.S.
Same house	98,420 ±2,038	77.5% ±1.6 pp	87.4%	87.7%
Moved within same county	15,153 ±1,480	11.9% ±1.2 pp	6.2%	6.3%
Moved from a different county in the same state	7,496 ±853	5.9% ±0.7 pp	3.6%	3.1%
Moved from a different state	4,869 ±676	3.8% ±0.5 pp	2.5%	2.3%
Moved from abroad	980 ±338	0.8% ±0.3 pp	0.4%	0.6%

These are respondents’ residence patterns one year before their survey response, pooled across the five-year window. They are not a net migration count for 2025. A person can move to a different house within the same city or county; moves within the same county should not automatically be interpreted as new arrivals to the city.

Health insurance, internet access and veterans

5.9% of Columbia residents (±0.7 percentage points) had no health insurance coverage when surveyed, compared with 8.8% in Missouri and 8.4% nationally. 90.5% of households subscribe to broadband of any type, including cellular data plans. A subscription is not the same as available service: the FCC National Broadband Map shows providers at a specific address.

City, state and U.S. shares · ACS 2020–2024
Measure	Columbia	Missouri	U.S.	Compared with Missouri
People without health insurance Civilian noninstitutionalized population	5.9% ±0.7 pp	8.8%	8.4%	Lower
Households with a broadband subscription Households	90.5% ±1.2 pp	89.3%	91.0%	Not statistically different
Veterans Civilian population age 18 and older	4.6% ±0.5 pp	7.3%	6.2%	Lower

Reading and reusing the estimates

The Census table links above lead to the original detailed tables. Counts, source universes and uncertainty are retained in the source observation download for Columbia . Compare these figures with the same survey window; do not compare one city’s five-year estimate with another city’s annual estimate as though they measured the same period. For methods, see uncertainty and denominator calculations.

Read Columbia housing and cost context or return to the city profile.