Jobs & Economy in Columbia
Columbia's economy runs on healthcare, manufacturing, and retail trade -- led by Maury Regional Medical Center, Columbia's own 255-bed flagship hospital -- and shares Maury County's real April 2026 unemployment spike tied to GM/Ultium retooling layoffs physically located in Spring Hill.
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Learn moreMaury Regional Medical Center: Columbia's own major employer
Maury Regional Medical Center, the flagship hospital of the Maury Regional Health system, is located in Columbia itself with 255 beds, an accredited heart program, a neonatal intensive care unit, and a cancer center. Forbes named it one of the best employers in Tennessee in fall 2022 -- one of only nine hospitals or health systems statewide on that list -- with average yearly pay for Maury Regional Health roles in Columbia cited at $56,469 as of June 2026.
Healthcare, manufacturing, and retail are the top three sectors
Columbia's economy employs roughly 22,000 people, with Health Care & Social Assistance (3,590 jobs), Manufacturing (3,267 jobs), and Retail Trade (2,578 jobs) as the top three sectors. Manufacturing employment reflects Maury County's real GM supply chain -- including GM's Spring Hill plant itself (physically sited a few miles north but counted within the same county manufacturing base) plus other automotive-adjacent employers like Comprehensive Logistics (GM sub-assembly) and IB-Tech (automotive seats/safety devices).
Shares Maury County's real, disclosed 2026 employment volatility
Maury County's unemployment rate hit 6.1% in April 2026 -- the highest of any Tennessee county that month -- before recovering to 4.5% in May, driven by GM/Ultium Cells retooling layoffs at the Spring Hill plant (see spring-hill-tn-topics.js's jobs-economy topic for the full detail). Columbia does not have its own separately tracked city-level unemployment series in the sources found this pass, so this county-level figure is the best available proxy for Columbia's own labor-market conditions during that period.
A real, disclosed lower-income profile than Spring Hill
Columbia's median household income ($63,719) runs well below Spring Hill's ($112,013), with a real, disclosed higher poverty rate (14.18% vs. 4.28%) -- an honest reflection of Columbia's role as the county's older, more economically mixed seat rather than a newer, higher-income growth suburb.
Key takeaways
- Maury Regional Medical Center (255 beds), Columbia's own flagship hospital, is a real, Forbes-recognized major employer directly in the city.
- Healthcare (3,590 jobs), manufacturing (3,267 jobs), and retail trade (2,578 jobs) are Columbia's top three employment sectors, out of roughly 22,000 total jobs.
- Columbia shares Maury County's real April 2026 unemployment spike (6.1%, highest in TN that month) tied to GM/Ultium retooling layoffs at the Spring Hill plant, recovering to 4.5% by May.
- Columbia's median household income ($63,719) and poverty rate (14.18%) run meaningfully less favorable than Spring Hill's -- a real, disclosed economic contrast.
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