Columbus, GA-AL

Across all occupations in the Columbus, GA-AL metropolitan area, the median wage is $43,540 a year ($20.93 an hour) and the mean $55,130, May 2025. That median is −15% against the US median of $50,980 and −10% against Georgia's $48,170. BLS counts 116,380 jobs in the area, which spans Georgia and Alabama. The highest-paying occupation is nurse anesthetists; the largest is fast food and counter workers.

All occupations: Columbus, GA-AL vs Georgia and Alabama and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Columbus, GA-AL area, Georgia and Alabama and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Columbus, GA-AL	Hourly	$11.61	$14.73	$20.93	$30.99	$48.11	$26.51	116,380
Columbus, GA-AL	Annual	$24,150	$30,630	$43,540	$64,450	$100,060	$55,130	116,380
Georgia	Hourly	$13.43	$17.16	$23.16	$37.29	$58.88	$31.69	4,889,170
Georgia	Annual	$27,930	$35,700	$48,170	$77,570	$122,470	$65,920	4,889,170
Alabama	Hourly	$12.54	$15.41	$21.96	$32.11	$48.68	$27.65	2,113,660
Alabama	Annual	$26,090	$32,050	$45,670	$66,790	$101,250	$57,500	2,113,660
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

331 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profiles: Georgia, Alabama. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Columbus, GA-AL

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Nurse Anesthetists	$229,990	$110.57	**
2	Dentists, General	$196,310	$94.38	60
3	Physicians, All Other	$191,360	$92.00	320
4	Pediatricians, General	$181,990	$87.50	50
5	Family Medicine Physicians	$179,420	$86.26	90
6	Chief Executives	$169,630	$81.55	70
7	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Georgia	$166,750	$80.17	300
8	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$162,450	$78.10	90
9	Marketing Managers	$145,120	$69.77	110
10	Financial Managers in Georgia	$141,460	$68.01	340
11	Sales Managers in Georgia	$136,340	$65.55	270
12	Pharmacists	$132,790	$63.84	300
13	Purchasing Managers	$132,510	$63.71	70
14	Human Resources Managers	$130,870	$62.92	140
15	Industrial Production Managers	$128,520	$61.79	150
16	Computer Network Architects	$126,380	$60.76	100
17	Facilities Managers	$125,530	$60.35	70
18	Optometrists	$121,830	$58.57	30
19	Nurse Practitioners	$121,530	$58.43	370
20	Database Administrators	$119,740	$57.57	40

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Columbus, GA-AL

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Georgia	4,060	34.91	1.41	$23,300
2	Retail Salespersons in Georgia	3,580	30.75	1.23	$28,180
3	Cashiers in Georgia	2,900	24.89	1.25	$26,980
4	Registered Nurses in Georgia	2,790	23.98	1.10	$82,500
5	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Georgia	2,490	21.38	1.13	$36,910
6	Customer Service Representatives in Georgia	2,150	18.43	1.10	$37,330
6	Stockers and Order Fillers in Georgia	2,150	18.50	1.02	$31,690
8	General and Operations Managers in Georgia	2,140	18.35	0.81	$82,330
9	Waiters and Waitresses in Georgia	2,080	17.85	1.22	$20,800
10	Office Clerks, General in Georgia	1,720	14.78	0.93	$37,340
11	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Georgia	1,660	14.28	0.52	$28,810
12	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Georgia	1,450	12.46	0.88	$30,320
13	First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Georgia	1,440	12.38	1.57	$36,180
14	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in Georgia	1,430	12.33	1.25	$42,970
15	Business Operations Specialists, All Other in Georgia	1,400	12.00	1.72	$77,540
16	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in Georgia	1,340	11.55	1.29	$61,360
17	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Georgia	1,300	11.21	1.02	$37,570
18	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Georgia	1,180	10.12	0.76	$47,570
19	First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers in Georgia	1,160	9.99	1.38	$37,440
20	Security Guards in Georgia	1,150	9.92	1.20	$29,720

Most concentrated occupations in Columbus, GA-AL

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Education Administrators, All Other	7.11	290	2.52	$101,230
2	Teachers and Instructors, All Other	6.78	580	4.96	$59,670
3	Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining	5.20	130	1.15	$44,720
4	Educational Instruction and Library Workers, All Other	3.25	290	2.48	$35,040
5	Procurement Clerks	3.21	130	1.15	$54,020
6	Sewing Machine Operators	3.02	240	2.04	$33,440
7	Helpers--Electricians	2.96	140	1.21	$32,990
8	Career/Technical Education Teachers, Postsecondary	2.31	200	1.69	$64,580
9	Data Entry Keyers	2.30	220	1.88	$36,240
10	Pest Control Workers	2.20	170	1.45	$33,770

Occupation groups in Columbus, GA-AL

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Computer and Mathematical	$101,650	$100,060	3,210	27.60	0.82
Management	$101,380	$118,160	6,710	57.66	0.81
Architecture and Engineering	$81,720	$88,930	1,250	10.78	0.64
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$75,270	$86,690	8,670	74.47	1.18
Business and Financial Operations	$74,200	$81,530	7,440	63.91	0.94
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$73,640	$77,750	700	6.03	0.64
Legal	$65,250	$93,170	610	5.23	0.62
Educational Instruction and Library	$59,140	$57,040	6,990	60.07	1.03
Community and Social Service	$51,490	$56,140	1,750	15.02	0.88
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$50,530	$53,990	5,390	46.35	1.18
Protective Service	$47,130	$48,410	4,630	39.76	1.64
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$46,840	$57,410	1,040	8.91	0.68
Construction and Extraction	$45,760	$48,920	3,700	31.78	0.77
Production	$42,870	$47,100	6,690	57.48	1.04
Office and Administrative Support	$38,630	$42,500	13,900	119.47	1.05
Transportation and Material Moving	$37,030	$39,260	9,600	82.52	0.94
Healthcare Support	$35,620	$36,290	4,780	41.06	0.81
Sales and Related	$30,470	$42,620	10,930	93.88	1.09
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$30,250	$32,310	3,180	27.34	0.93
Personal Care and Service	$28,800	$32,510	2,200	18.94	0.90
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$27,360	$36,250	410	3.49	1.25
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$27,080	$28,390	12,600	108.25	1.23

Every occupation in Georgia and Alabama, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profiles. All 331 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Columbus, GA-AL estimates (area 17980).

*: Wage estimate not available.
**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Columbus, GA-AL area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.
The area spans Georgia and Alabama; its figures are the whole MSA, as BLS publishes them, under the primary state Georgia.