About Columbia
Small-town community, big-city culture
The Ideal College Town
119,000
Residents
600
Restaurants
49
Public Parks
8
Hospitals & Health Care Centers
6
City Recreation Areas
32
Museums & Galleries
Global Culture
Columbia celebrates a vibrant, welcoming culture and attracts residents from all over the world.
The city is home to more than 100 places of worship, including a synagogue and an Islamic center, and features many international grocery stores and restaurants among the local businesses.
Outdoor Life
Explore multiple city parks, caves, lakes, streams and cliffs for outdoor adventurers including Rock Bridge State Park, Stephens Lake Park, and the Activity and Recreation Center.
The Getabout Columbia program encourages cycling, walking and public transportation. The MKT Trail takes cyclists and hikers through the city, linking to the 237-mile Katy Trail that stretches across the entire state of Missouri.
Festivals & Events
As a host to more than a dozen annual festivals, Columbia draws top-named acts and crowds of 100,000 people through art fairs, parades, pub crawls, sidewalk sales and outdoor concerts. At the True/False Film Festival,
documentary filmmakers throughout the world participate in this four-day weekend celebrating nonfiction filmmaking as artistic form. And on First Fridays each month, Columbia’s North Village Arts District brings the community together to enjoy special art events, artists in residence, musical performances and more.
Schools
Lifelong education is a shared community value in Columbia. From preschool through retirement, the campus and city offer diverse, high-quality educational options.
Our public school system annually produces some of the largest numbers of national merit scholars in the state, with 18 parochial and private schools, four special-needs training facilities, an adult education center as well as a lifelong learning institute.
Health Care
University Hospital on campus offers the only Level I trauma center and helicopter service in central Missouri and is home to NextGen Precision Health, a research center dedicated to driving medical discoveries and improving health care for Missourians and the world. MU Health Care and other providers offer world-class health care on and off campus.
