Columbus vs Fishtail

A side-by-side comparison of Columbus and Fishtail: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Columbus has the higher population (1,925 vs 79 in Fishtail). Fishtail has the higher median home value ($361,800 vs $264,000 in Columbus). Since 2019, Columbus's population has grown faster (-12.3% vs -43.6%).

Population, income & housing

	Columbus	Fishtail
Population	1,925	79
Median age	46.0 yrs	74.5 yrs
Median household income	$62,500	—
Median home value	$264,000	$361,800
Median gross rent	$926	—
Housing units	887	54
Homeownership rate	71.6%	81.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.6%	61.0%
Unemployment rate	4.3%	0.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Columbus	Fishtail
Population	2,194 → 1,925 (-12.3%)	140 → 79 (-43.6%)
Median household income	$64,038 → $62,500 (-2.4%)	$106,250 → $120,341 (+13.3%)
Median home value	$185,600 → $264,000 (+42.2%)	$316,700 → $361,800 (+14.2%)
Median gross rent	$735 → $926 (+26.0%)	$581 → $555 (-4.5%)

Columbus

Population

2,1941,925

Median household income

$64,038$62,500

Median home value

$185,600$264,000

Median gross rent

$735$926

Fishtail

Population

14079

Median household income

$106,250$120,341

Median home value

$316,700$361,800

Median gross rent

$581$555

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Columbus	Fishtail
Under 5	3.7%	0.0%
5 to 17	17.0%	0.0%
18 to 24	9.9%	2.5%
25 to 34	7.6%	0.0%
35 to 44	10.2%	0.0%
45 to 54	13.2%	2.5%
55 to 64	13.0%	17.7%
65 to 74	13.4%	27.8%
75 and over	11.8%	49.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Columbus	Fishtail
White (non-Hispanic)	92.7%	100.0%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.6%	0.0%
Asian	1.1%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.0%	0.0%
Hispanic or Latino	3.5%	0.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Columbus	Fishtail
No high school diploma	6.7%	0.0%
High school graduate	39.8%	15.6%
Some college or associate's	32.9%	23.4%
Bachelor's degree	14.8%	13.0%
Graduate or professional degree	5.8%	48.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Columbus	Fishtail
Drove alone	78.8%	25.0%
Carpooled	8.4%	50.0%
Public transit	5.2%	0.0%
Walked	3.9%	25.0%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.0%
Worked from home	3.4%	0.0%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Columbus	Fishtail
1-unit, detached	75.0%	70.4%
1-unit, attached	2.3%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	6.5%	9.3%
5 to 19 units	1.9%	11.1%
20 or more units	1.9%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	12.4%	9.3%

Poverty & households

	Columbus	Fishtail
Poverty rate	12.7%	0.0%
Average household size	2.24	2.08
Mean commute (minutes)	23	15
Median year structure built	1970	1990