The Columbia, MO all-occupations median was 7.3% below the U.S. all-occupations median in the same release. Registered Nurses had the largest published employment estimate among the 30 occupation rows shown on this hub, at 3,680.
Among those high-employment rows, Family Medicine Physicians had the highest published location quotient at 9.93. A location quotient above 1.00 means a larger share of local employment than the national share; it does not measure job quality or future demand.
Occupation detail
Largest published occupations in Columbia, MO
Sorted by published employment. Open a row for its local distribution, national comparison, and jobs.
Largest published occupation estimates by employment
Six high-employment rows from the bounded area summary. The table below keeps each full title and published field.
Registered Nurses: 3,680 jobs. General and Operation...: 3,440 jobs. Home Health and Perso...: 3,000 jobs. Retail Salespersons: 2,610 jobs. Cooks, Fast Food: 2,470 jobs. Cashiers: 2,340 jobs.
BEA's 2024 all-items price index for Columbia, MO was 89.4, or 10.6% below the national price level. Its housing index was 69.2.
National-price-dollar proxy
$52,841
WageScope divides the published all occupations median by the BEA all-items index. This is a price-level comparison, not take-home pay, a personal budget, or a quality-of-life score.
Wage period: BLS May 2025. Price period: BEA 2024. The releases describe different periods and are shown separately.
Price level in Columbia, MO; U.S. = 100
U.S. baseline: 100.0. All items: 89.4. Housing: 69.2.
Read the all-jobs wage, role mix, local job shares, price-level context, and survey limits as separate facts. Every value stays tied to BLS area 17860.
Questions, answered
Wage data for Columbia, MO: common questions
What is the all-occupations median wage in Columbia, MO?
The May 2025 BLS OEWS release published an all-occupations median of $47,260 per year in Columbia, MO. It combines covered wage and salary jobs and is not a median for every individual occupation.
How many wage and salary jobs does BLS estimate in Columbia, MO?
BLS published an all-occupations employment estimate of 107,680 jobs for Columbia, MO. It is a survey estimate, not a current opening count.
What is the largest detailed occupation shown for Columbia, MO?
Registered Nurses is the largest detailed occupation in the bounded table on this page, with 3,680 estimated jobs and a published median of $84,330 per year.
Does the Columbia, MO wage data adjust for local prices?
From market data to your evidence
Tailor for a real Registered Nurses job, not a generic wage number.
Pick an eligible listing, then MeritLog can help you prepare from experience you have confirmed. WageScope never turns a BLS estimate into a qualification or résumé claim.
The May 2025 BLS OEWS estimate puts the all-occupations median in Columbia, MO at $47,260 per year. This is the middle wage across covered wage and salary jobs in the area. It is not the median for each job title. It is not one worker's pay. Use an occupation page when you need a role-level answer.
BLS lists 107,680 covered jobs in Columbia, MO. The all-occupations mean is $61,380 per year. Mean means add the wage values and split the total by the number of jobs behind the estimate. The median and mean can differ because the local wage mix is not even.
Columbia, MO's $47,260 all-occupations median is 7.3% below the U.S. all-occupations median of $50,980 on the same published median. This is a wage check on the same source period. It does not add local price levels, taxes, hours, benefits, or household needs.
Columbia, MO ranks 219 of 393 among metro areas with a published annual all-occupations median. WageScope keeps the map type the same. It does not place a state, metro, and nonmetro row in one rank. The rank uses the May 2025 BLS median only.
A rank is a place in a sorted list. It is not a score. It does not say a place is good or bad. It does not show the size of the job base. Columbia, MO has 107,680 covered jobs, while another row near it can have a very different count.
The nearby rank rows give context without turning the list into a league table. Small gaps can move a place by several spots. A later BLS release can also change the order. Read the wage gap and the source date beside the rank. Do not use rank alone to make a move.
216. Morgantown, WV has an all-occupations median of $47,350 per year and 67,370 covered jobs. Its wage gap from Columbia, MO is $90.
217. St. Joseph, MO-KS has an all-occupations median of $47,350 per year and 54,390 covered jobs. Its wage gap from Columbia, MO is $90.
218. New Orleans-Metairie, LA has an all-occupations median of $47,290 per year and 445,550 covered jobs. Its wage gap from Columbia, MO is $30.
220. Savannah, GA has an all-occupations median of $47,240 per year and 198,360 covered jobs. Its wage gap from Columbia, MO is $20.
221. Oklahoma City, OK has an all-occupations median of $47,230 per year and 677,680 covered jobs. Its wage gap from Columbia, MO is $30.
222. Merced, CA has an all-occupations median of $47,220 per year and 79,510 covered jobs. Its wage gap from Columbia, MO is $40.
The largest detailed occupations shown for Columbia, MO
The role list is sorted by the BLS employment estimate. It shows detailed occupations from the bounded source table for Columbia, MO. The first row, Registered Nurses, has 3,680 estimated jobs. Its median is $84,330 per year.
Large roles shape the all-occupations wage mix, but they do not set it by themselves. A role with many jobs and a lower wage can pull the middle one way. A smaller role with a higher wage can move the mean. The all-occupations row is based on the whole covered job mix, not just the occupations shown in this bounded list.
Employment here means wage and salary jobs in the BLS survey scope. It does not mean people looking for work. It does not mean openings. It does not show how fast a role is changing. Use the current job cards only to inspect dated employer-title matches. Keep that view apart from this May 2025 job count.
1. Registered Nurses has 3,680 estimated jobs in Columbia, MO. Its published median is $84,330 per year. Its location quotient is 1.57.
2. General and Operations Managers has 3,440 estimated jobs in Columbia, MO. Its published median is $75,410 per year. Its location quotient is 1.42.
3. Home Health and Personal Care Aides has 3,000 estimated jobs in Columbia, MO. Its published median is $36,860 per year. Its location quotient is 1.01.
Role pay range
How published medians differ inside Columbia, MO
The detailed roles shown for Columbia, MO do not share one pay level. Registered Nurses has the highest published median in this bounded role set, at $84,330 per year. That does not make it the highest-paid role in every job or in every part of the area.
The list keeps each official SOC title tied to its own wage row. It does not blend fields, levels, or job posts. A role median can be above the $47,260 all-occupations median even when the role has few jobs. A large role can sit below that mark. Pay and job count answer different questions.
Use a role's own WageScope page before you compare places. That page shows the national spread, the same SOC code across areas, and the source limits. The area list is a starting map. It is not enough to set a pay target for one person or one listing.
1. Registered Nurses has a published median of $84,330 per year in Columbia, MO. BLS lists 3,680 jobs. Its local share is 1.57 times the national share.
2. General and Operations Managers has a published median of $75,410 per year in Columbia, MO. BLS lists 3,440 jobs. Its local share is 1.42 times the national share.
3. Accountants and Auditors has a published median of $73,070 per year in Columbia, MO. BLS lists 930 jobs. Its local share is 0.92 times the national share.
Local share
Roles with a larger local share in Columbia, MO
Location quotient compares a role's share of jobs in Columbia, MO with that role's share across the nation. A value of 1 means the shares match. A value above 1 means the role takes a larger share of local jobs. A value below 1 means the share is smaller. The value does not show growth or open jobs.
Family Medicine Physicians has the highest published location quotient in this bounded set, at 9.93. The same row has 740 jobs and a median of $69,590 per year. Read all three fields together.
A high share can appear in a small job base. A large job count can appear with a share near 1. A high median can appear in either case. The three measures are not a single score. They help you ask three clear questions: how many jobs, how common the role is in the local mix, and what wage BLS published.
1. Family Medicine Physicians has a location quotient of 9.93 in Columbia, MO. BLS lists 740 jobs and a median of $69,590 per year.
2. Cooks, Fast Food has a location quotient of 5.57 in Columbia, MO. BLS lists 2,470 jobs and a median of $29,110 per year.
3. Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors has a location quotient of 2.86 in Columbia, MO. BLS lists 700 jobs and a median of $51,260 per year.
Separate price view
What the BEA price level adds for Columbia, MO
BEA's 2024 all-items price index for Columbia, MO is 89.4. The U.S. level is 100. The local all-items level is 10.6% below that mark. This is a broad price comparison. It is not a personal budget.
The housing index is 69.2. The goods index is 94.2. Utilities are 86.0. Other services are 93.0. These parts can move in different ways. The all-items number joins them with BEA's method; WageScope does not pick its own weights.
The BLS wage period is May 2025. The BEA price period is 2024. WageScope shows both dates because the clocks differ. It can divide a wage by the all-items index for a clear national-price-dollar proxy. It does not call that result take-home pay, spending power for one home, or a place score.
The all-occupations employment RSE for Columbia, MO is 0%. The mean-wage RSE is 0.5%. RSE means relative standard error. It is a survey precision flag. A smaller value often means less sampling uncertainty. It is not an error bar for one person's wage.
The employment RSE belongs to the 107,680 job estimate. The mean-wage RSE belongs to the all-occupations mean. WageScope does not attach either field to a detailed role, the median, or a percentile. Each role row has its own published care marks when BLS supplies them.
Some BLS values are blank or top coded. Blank does not mean zero. A top code means the value is at least the shown bound. WageScope keeps those states in the role pages and tables. It does not fill a missing value from a peer role, past year, or nearby place.
Use Columbia, MO as a map, then choose one occupation
Start with the role that matches the work you mean. Official titles can sound broad. Open the role page and check its SOC code. Then compare the Columbia, MO row with the U.S. row on the same annual or hourly metric. Read the job count and location quotient beside the wage. Add the BEA price level only when the exact row is present.
Next, look at the wage spread. The median shows the middle. The 10th, 25th, 75th, and 90th percentiles show more of the range. A posted job range can be compared with those marks as context, but it stays employer evidence. It never becomes part of the BLS estimate.
If the role-place row is missing, use the national role page or choose another official area. Do not guess. A clean missing state is more useful than a made-up number. It tells you what the source can and cannot answer.
Move from Columbia, MO wage data to one checked job
The area page does not treat every local job as the same. Choose an occupation first. WageScope can then use a strict employer-title match for that role. A place filter is used only when the BLS area has an exact approved match in the public place list. If that match is not safe, the page says so.
Each shown job keeps the employer, place, source, and seen date. The cards can change as the public catalog changes. They do not count toward this page's stable content gate. They do not change Columbia, MO's $47,260 all-occupations median. They do not prove that the employer uses the BLS title.
Open a listing before you tailor. Use facts from your own work that you can support. A wage value is not a skill, result, or duty. MeritLog can help shape confirmed work for the listing you chose. The public area page does not save the role, listing, place, or résumé on load.
The page does not say what one person in Columbia, MO earns. It does not promise a wage, job, move, or result. It does not call the all-occupations median a role wage. It does not turn rank 219 of 393 into a place score. It does not say why wages differ.
The BLS job count leaves out people who work for themselves and other work outside the survey scope. The current job cards are a separate set of public listings. Neither source shows all work. Neither source tells you the chance of getting hired. A missing value stays missing.
Use the page for a narrow task. See the May 2025 local wage picture. Choose one official occupation. Compare the same field across like places. Add the separate 2024 price level when it exists. Read a current employer-title match. Then make a résumé choice from work facts you have confirmed.
No. BLS wage estimates are nominal. Where an exact BEA Regional Price Parity row exists, WageScope shows that price-level context separately and labels its source period.
Are MeritLog job listings part of the government wage estimate?
No. Eligible live listings remain separate from BLS statistics. Their locations and posted pay do not change the official area or occupation rows.
4. Retail Salespersons has 2,610 estimated jobs in Columbia, MO. Its published median is $31,390 per year. Its location quotient is 0.97.
5. Cooks, Fast Food has 2,470 estimated jobs in Columbia, MO. Its published median is $29,110 per year. Its location quotient is 5.57.
6. Cashiers has 2,340 estimated jobs in Columbia, MO. Its published median is $29,910 per year. Its location quotient is 1.09.
7. Office Clerks, General has 2,330 estimated jobs in Columbia, MO. Its published median is $44,730 per year. Its location quotient is 1.37.
8. Waiters and Waitresses has 2,120 estimated jobs in Columbia, MO. Its published median is $29,250 per year. Its location quotient is 1.35.
4. Family Medicine Physicians has a published median of $69,590 per year in Columbia, MO. BLS lists 740 jobs. Its local share is 9.93 times the national share.
5. First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers has a published median of $61,670 per year in Columbia, MO. BLS lists 930 jobs. Its local share is 0.93 times the national share.
6. Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses has a published median of $61,670 per year in Columbia, MO. BLS lists 800 jobs. Its local share is 1.77 times the national share.
7. Business Operations Specialists, All Other has a published median of $61,600 per year in Columbia, MO. BLS lists 990 jobs. Its local share is 1.31 times the national share.
8. Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education has a published median of $58,720 per year in Columbia, MO. BLS lists 950 jobs. Its local share is 1.29 times the national share.
4. Nursing Assistants has a location quotient of 2.03 in Columbia, MO. BLS lists 2,040 jobs and a median of $41,290 per year.
5. Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses has a location quotient of 1.77 in Columbia, MO. BLS lists 800 jobs and a median of $61,670 per year.
6. Registered Nurses has a location quotient of 1.57 in Columbia, MO. BLS lists 3,680 jobs and a median of $84,330 per year.
7. General and Operations Managers has a location quotient of 1.42 in Columbia, MO. BLS lists 3,440 jobs and a median of $75,410 per year.
8. Office Clerks, General has a location quotient of 1.37 in Columbia, MO. BLS lists 2,330 jobs and a median of $44,730 per year.
We did not fill this page with jobs from other places. Search all Registered Nurses jobs, then check each listing's location before you tailor your resume.
