Columbia Falls vs Whitefish

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

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

Whitefish has the higher population (8,422 vs 5,531 in Columbia Falls). Whitefish has the higher median household income ($71,110 vs $65,313 in Columbia Falls). Whitefish has the higher median home value ($648,200 vs $346,700 in Columbia Falls).

Population, income & housing

	Columbia Falls	Whitefish
Population	5,531	8,422
Median age	38.3 yrs	43.4 yrs
Median household income	$65,313	$71,110
Median home value	$346,700	$648,200
Median gross rent	$1,003	$1,313
Housing units	2,364	5,079
Homeownership rate	64.4%	60.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	31.6%	56.5%
Unemployment rate	6.8%	2.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Columbia Falls	Whitefish
Population	5,429 → 5,531 (+1.9%)	7,714 → 8,422 (+9.2%)
Median household income	$46,821 → $65,313 (+39.5%)	$52,037 → $71,110 (+36.7%)
Median home value	$195,700 → $346,700 (+77.2%)	$364,500 → $648,200 (+77.8%)
Median gross rent	$705 → $1,003 (+42.3%)	$1,014 → $1,313 (+29.5%)

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

Whitefish

Population

7,7148,422

Median household income

$52,037$71,110

Median home value

$364,500$648,200

Median gross rent

$1,014$1,313

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Columbia Falls	Whitefish
Under 5	6.6%	4.1%
5 to 17	17.6%	13.1%
18 to 24	9.4%	4.0%
25 to 34	9.0%	16.3%
35 to 44	20.5%	14.5%
45 to 54	12.7%	12.5%
55 to 64	12.5%	12.0%
65 to 74	5.5%	13.8%
75 and over	6.1%	9.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Columbia Falls	Whitefish
White (non-Hispanic)	92.7%	95.4%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	1.0%
Asian	0.8%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.2%
Two or more races	1.9%	2.3%
Hispanic or Latino	4.6%	1.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Columbia Falls	Whitefish
No high school diploma	9.7%	2.2%
High school graduate	28.2%	18.7%
Some college or associate's	30.5%	22.6%
Bachelor's degree	21.8%	41.5%
Graduate or professional degree	9.8%	15.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Columbia Falls	Whitefish
Drove alone	76.7%	66.0%
Carpooled	2.0%	2.0%
Public transit	0.0%	0.2%
Walked	2.7%	7.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	2.7%
Worked from home	17.5%	22.0%
Other means	1.1%	0.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Columbia Falls	Whitefish
1-unit, detached	66.9%	59.6%
1-unit, attached	3.0%	9.6%
2 to 4 units	14.7%	10.5%
5 to 19 units	9.9%	14.9%
20 or more units	1.6%	4.0%
Mobile home & other	3.8%	1.3%

Poverty & households

	Columbia Falls	Whitefish
Poverty rate	16.1%	8.9%
Average household size	2.53	2.02
Mean commute (minutes)	20	17
Median year structure built	1979	1987