Columbia Falls vs Kalispell

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

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

Kalispell has the higher population (26,830 vs 5,531 in Columbia Falls). Columbia Falls has the higher median household income ($65,313 vs $61,590 in Kalispell). Kalispell has the higher median home value ($381,400 vs $346,700 in Columbia Falls).

Population, income & housing

	Columbia Falls	Kalispell
Population	5,531	26,830
Median age	38.3 yrs	35.6 yrs
Median household income	$65,313	$61,590
Median home value	$346,700	$381,400
Median gross rent	$1,003	$1,019
Housing units	2,364	11,650
Homeownership rate	64.4%	59.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	31.6%	32.9%
Unemployment rate	6.8%	3.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Columbia Falls	Kalispell
Population	5,429 → 5,531 (+1.9%)	23,241 → 26,830 (+15.4%)
Median household income	$46,821 → $65,313 (+39.5%)	$50,294 → $61,590 (+22.5%)
Median home value	$195,700 → $346,700 (+77.2%)	$233,500 → $381,400 (+63.3%)
Median gross rent	$705 → $1,003 (+42.3%)	$805 → $1,019 (+26.6%)

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

Kalispell

Population

23,24126,830

Median household income

$50,294$61,590

Median home value

$233,500$381,400

Median gross rent

$805$1,019

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Columbia Falls	Kalispell
Under 5	6.6%	7.2%
5 to 17	17.6%	16.3%
18 to 24	9.4%	8.6%
25 to 34	9.0%	17.1%
35 to 44	20.5%	12.1%
45 to 54	12.7%	9.9%
55 to 64	12.5%	10.5%
65 to 74	5.5%	9.7%
75 and over	6.1%	8.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Columbia Falls	Kalispell
White (non-Hispanic)	92.7%	88.1%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	1.0%
Asian	0.8%	1.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.1%
Two or more races	1.9%	4.1%
Hispanic or Latino	4.6%	5.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Columbia Falls	Kalispell
No high school diploma	9.7%	4.0%
High school graduate	28.2%	26.8%
Some college or associate's	30.5%	36.3%
Bachelor's degree	21.8%	21.7%
Graduate or professional degree	9.8%	11.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Columbia Falls	Kalispell
Drove alone	76.7%	76.5%
Carpooled	2.0%	8.7%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	2.7%	2.7%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.8%
Worked from home	17.5%	10.0%
Other means	1.1%	1.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Columbia Falls	Kalispell
1-unit, detached	66.9%	62.0%
1-unit, attached	3.0%	11.5%
2 to 4 units	14.7%	10.9%
5 to 19 units	9.9%	5.1%
20 or more units	1.6%	8.2%
Mobile home & other	3.8%	2.1%

Poverty & households

	Columbia Falls	Kalispell
Poverty rate	16.1%	10.3%
Average household size	2.53	2.36
Mean commute (minutes)	20	14
Median year structure built	1979	1984