Due to successful redevelopment since the station's opening, Columbia Heights is one of the busiest Metro stops outside the downtown core, with over four million exits in 2010.

[2] The station is located in Northwest Washington at 14th and Irving Streets (entrances at both the Southwest and Northeast corners), serving both the Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant neighborhoods.

Since May 7, 2023, the northeastern terminus of the Yellow Line was truncated from Greenbelt to Mount Vernon Square, following its reopening after a nearly eight-month-long major rehabilitation project on its bridge over the Potomac River and its tunnel leading into L'Enfant Plaza.

Installed in 1999, Woven Identities is a mural and wall sculpture located in the Metro station.

A series of painted panels, which appear like mosaics, the mural is abstract featuring faces representing the diversity of the Columbia Heights neighborhood.