Bigfork vs Columbia Falls

A side-by-side comparison of Bigfork and Columbia Falls: population, income, housing, and more.

Bigfork and Columbia Falls are places in Montana. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Columbia Falls has the higher population (5,531 vs 5,249 in Bigfork). Bigfork has the higher median household income ($82,648 vs $65,313 in Columbia Falls). Bigfork has the higher median home value ($614,300 vs $346,700 in Columbia Falls).

Population, income & housing

	Bigfork	Columbia Falls
Population	5,249	5,531
Median age	53.7 yrs	38.3 yrs
Median household income	$82,648	$65,313
Median home value	$614,300	$346,700
Median gross rent	$1,103	$1,003
Housing units	3,207	2,364
Homeownership rate	78.6%	64.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	51.0%	31.6%
Unemployment rate	2.9%	6.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Bigfork	Columbia Falls
Population	4,668 → 5,249 (+12.4%)	5,429 → 5,531 (+1.9%)
Median household income	$60,076 → $82,648 (+37.6%)	$46,821 → $65,313 (+39.5%)
Median home value	$365,300 → $614,300 (+68.2%)	$195,700 → $346,700 (+77.2%)
Median gross rent	$884 → $1,103 (+24.8%)	$705 → $1,003 (+42.3%)

Bigfork

Population

4,6685,249

Median household income

$60,076$82,648

Median home value

$365,300$614,300

Median gross rent

$884$1,103

Columbia Falls

Population

5,4295,531

Median household income

$46,821$65,313

Median home value

$195,700$346,700

Median gross rent

$705$1,003

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Bigfork	Columbia Falls
Under 5	2.0%	6.6%
5 to 17	13.4%	17.6%
18 to 24	8.4%	9.4%
25 to 34	8.4%	9.0%
35 to 44	7.9%	20.5%
45 to 54	12.0%	12.7%
55 to 64	17.5%	12.5%
65 to 74	16.4%	5.5%
75 and over	14.0%	6.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Bigfork	Columbia Falls
White (non-Hispanic)	84.1%	92.7%
Black or African American	0.1%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.5%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	0.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	2.3%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.6%	1.9%
Hispanic or Latino	9.3%	4.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Bigfork	Columbia Falls
No high school diploma	2.4%	9.7%
High school graduate	15.1%	28.2%
Some college or associate's	31.5%	30.5%
Bachelor's degree	33.6%	21.8%
Graduate or professional degree	17.4%	9.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Bigfork	Columbia Falls
Drove alone	69.3%	76.7%
Carpooled	6.3%	2.0%
Public transit	0.1%	0.0%
Walked	6.0%	2.7%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	16.7%	17.5%
Other means	1.6%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Bigfork	Columbia Falls
1-unit, detached	71.5%	66.9%
1-unit, attached	6.4%	3.0%
2 to 4 units	4.7%	14.7%
5 to 19 units	8.3%	9.9%
20 or more units	2.9%	1.6%
Mobile home & other	6.2%	3.8%

Poverty & households

	Bigfork	Columbia Falls
Poverty rate	6.2%	16.1%
Average household size	2.27	2.53
Mean commute (minutes)	21	20
Median year structure built	1994	1979