2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Columbia, MO vs West Lafayette, IN

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Highlights
- Household income in West Lafayette, is 50% less than it is in Columbia and is 140% below the National Average.
- Columbia unemployment rate is 3.0%.
- West Lafayette unemployment rate is 2.9%.
 Columbia, MOWest Lafayette, INUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock2.9%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock3.6%1.6%
 Future Job Growth26.8%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes8.0%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock4.3%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$32,784  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$28,744$69,021
 Family Median Income$88,210  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Columbia, MOWest Lafayette, INUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock29.5%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K4.4%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock13.5%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K9.2%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock5.1%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K6.8%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock7.0%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K11.5%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock8.1%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K5.7%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock6.8%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Columbia, MOWest Lafayette, INUnited States
 Management, business, finance15.3%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock14.0%6.5%
 Community, social services2.7%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock0.2%1.2%
 Education, library10.9%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock2.4%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology9.7%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock2.0%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement1.4%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock10.4%5.4%
 Building maintenance2.3%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock5.6%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support19.4%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.9%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair4.2%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock6.1%13.1%
Reviews for Columbia    41 Reviews

If you are an active person and love to be outdoors and go to college sporting events, Columbia is a great place to live! I run and bike and go to Mizzou events a lot. I  More

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Over 4 years ago

I've live in CoMo for 20 yrs. NOT sure about this state of the art water park??!! There are great parks but nothing else for families. NO zoo, museum, and definitely no  More

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I lived there for a year and hated every minute. Columbia reminded me of the San Francisco of the Midwest. It is overrun with homeless people. Law enforcement is  More

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Reviews for West Lafayette    11 Reviews

I am originally from Greencastle, Indiana, a nice friendly rural town and home to DePauw University. Presently, I live in West Lafayette, Indiana, due to my having been  More

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Over 11 years ago

It's a nice small town. It's too bad it's not closer to Indy. I think I would like it here  More

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Over 14 years ago

They have good schools, parks and always have events to  More

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