The Columbia metropolitan area is the region centered around the City of Columbia in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. Located in

Mid-Missouri Mid-Missouri is a loosely-defined region comprising the central area of the U.S. state of Missouri. The region's largest city is Columbia (population 121,717); the Missouri state capital, Jefferson City, and the University of Missouri are also l ...

, it consists of five counties: Boone, Audrain, Randolph,

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

, and

Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

. The population was estimated at 256,640 in 2017, making it the 4th largest metropolitan area in Missouri. Columbia is home to the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

, and is Missouri's fourth most-populous and fastest growing city, with an estimated 121,717 residents as of 2017. Other significant cities in the area include Moberly,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, Boonville, Vandalia,

Centralia Centralia may refer to: Places Australia *Central Australia, sometimes called "Centralia" Canada * Centralia, Ontario ** RCAF Station Centralia, a former Royal Canadian Air Force training base ** Centralia (Essery Field) Aerodrome United State ...

, and Fayette. The area was originally called the

Boonslick The Boonslick, or Boone's Lick Country, is a cultural region of Missouri along the Missouri River that played an important role in the westward expansion of the United States and the development of Missouri's statehood in the early 19th century. Th ...

and settled mainly by Kentuckians following the

Boone's Lick Road The Boone's Lick Road or Boonslick Trail was an early 1800s transportation route from eastern to central Missouri in the United States. Running east-west on the North side and roughly parallel to the Missouri River the trail began in the river port ...

starting around 1812. The town of

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

, now washed into the Missouri River, was an early commercial center and start of the

Santa Fe Trail The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century route through central North America that connected Franklin, Missouri, with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1821 by William Becknell, who departed from the Boonslick region along the Missouri River, th ...

. Columbia was founded as

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Boone County in 1821. The region was considered for the location of the

Missouri State Capitol The Missouri State Capitol is the home of the Missouri General Assembly and the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Missouri. Located in Jefferson City at 201 West Capitol Avenue, it is the third capitol to be built in the city. ( ...

, but eventually a site was chosen south of Columbia and

Jefferson City Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the principa ...

was created to serve that purpose. Today,

Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15, I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of Interstate 695 (Maryland), I-695 in ...

, and U.S. Highways 63, 54, 24, and 40 link the urban areas. The U.S. Census defines the Columbia MSA as Boone, Cooper, and Howard counties while the addition of Audrain and Randolph form the

combined statistical area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and the territory of Puerto Ric ...

Counties

Current

* Boone (central county) * Audrain * Randolph *

Incorporated places

Cities with greater than 100,000 inhabitants

* Columbia (principal city), 123,195

Cities with greater than 10,000 inhabitants

* Moberly, 13,974 *

, 11,543

Towns with greater than 1,000 inhabitants

* Boonville, 7,964 * Ashland, 4,747 *

, 4,136 * Vandalia (partial), 3,899 (~2,000 are inmates at a local prison) * Fayette, 2,695 *

Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

, 1,564 * Hallsville, 1,614 *

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, 1,087

Towns with greater than 100 inhabitants

Sturgeon Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretace ...

, 872 * Higbee, 568 * Laddonia, 513 * Farber, 322 * Martinsburg, 304 *

Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...

, 298 *

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

, 292 *

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...

, 266 * Rocheport, 239 * Renick, 172 * Rush Hill, 151 *

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, 151 * Clifton Hill, 114 * Benton City, 104 * Hartsburg, 103

Villages

* Vandiver, 77 *

Pierpont Pierpont may refer to: Surname * Francis Harrison Pierpont (1814–1899), Governor of Virginia * Harry Pierpont (1902–1934), Prohibition-era gangster * James Pierpont (minister) (1659–1714), founder of Yale University * James Lord Pierpont (1 ...

, 76 * Huntsdale, 31 * McBaine, 10

Unincorporated places

* Shaw *

Thompson Thompson may refer to: People * Thompson (surname) * Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician Places Australia *Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality Bulgaria * Thompson, Bulgaria, a village in Sofia Province Canada * ...

* Two Mile Prairie * Midway

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 145,666 people, 56,930 households, and 34,010 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA was 85.83%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 8.42%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.41% Native American, 2.76%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.03%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...

, 0.67% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.87% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 1.72% of the population. The median income for a household in the MSA was $34,550, and the median income for a family was $45,689. Males had a median income of $29,837 versus $22,970 for females. The per capita income for the MSA was $17,521.

References

{{authority control Metropolitan areas of Missouri