Columbia was named the second Best City for Jobs in the United States for 2021 by WalletHub, the personal finance outlet. WalletHub compared 182 cities ̶ including the 150 most populated U.S. cities, plus at least two of the most populated cities in each state ̶ across two key dimensions, job market and socioeconomics.
To determine the strongest local job markets, WalletHub compared cities across 32 key metrics. The data set ranges from job opportunities to employment growth to monthly average starting salary. Columbia ranked notably in the following metrics:
- 40th – Monthly Average Starting Salary
- 1st – Median Annual Income*
- 6th – Housing Affordability
*Adjusted for cost of living