Columbia County vs Ouachita County

A side-by-side comparison of Columbia County and Ouachita County: population, income, housing, and more.

Columbia County and Ouachita County are counties in Arkansas. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Columbia County has the higher population (22,527 vs 22,317 in Ouachita County). Ouachita County has the higher median household income ($49,838 vs $47,363 in Columbia County). Columbia County has the higher median home value ($141,700 vs $99,600 in Ouachita County).

Population, income & housing

	Columbia County	Ouachita County
Population	22,527	22,317
Median age	34.5 yrs	44.0 yrs
Median household income	$47,363	$49,838
Median home value	$141,700	$99,600
Median gross rent	$631	$714
Housing units	11,032	11,870
Homeownership rate	69.1%	71.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.4%	15.1%
Unemployment rate	3.1%	4.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Columbia County	Ouachita County
Population	23,776 → 22,527 (-5.3%)	23,830 → 22,317 (-6.3%)
Median household income	$36,193 → $47,363 (+30.9%)	$35,425 → $49,838 (+40.7%)
Median home value	$81,900 → $141,700 (+73.0%)	$75,300 → $99,600 (+32.3%)
Median gross rent	$664 → $631 (-5.0%)	$525 → $714 (+36.0%)

Columbia County

Population

23,77622,527

Median household income

$36,193$47,363

Median home value

$81,900$141,700

Median gross rent

$664$631

Ouachita County

Population

23,83022,317

Median household income

$35,425$49,838

Median home value

$75,300$99,600

Median gross rent

$525$714

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Columbia County	Ouachita County
Under 5	6.2%	5.5%
5 to 17	15.3%	16.8%
18 to 24	16.0%	7.6%
25 to 34	12.9%	10.5%
35 to 44	9.9%	11.9%
45 to 54	10.7%	11.7%
55 to 64	11.8%	15.0%
65 to 74	9.7%	12.8%
75 and over	7.6%	8.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Columbia County	Ouachita County
White (non-Hispanic)	58.5%	54.2%
Black or African American	34.9%	41.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.2%
Asian	0.4%	0.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.5%	1.8%
Hispanic or Latino	3.4%	2.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Columbia County	Ouachita County
No high school diploma	11.5%	11.1%
High school graduate	40.6%	42.3%
Some college or associate's	27.5%	31.5%
Bachelor's degree	13.5%	9.3%
Graduate or professional degree	6.9%	5.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Columbia County	Ouachita County
Drove alone	82.3%	86.8%
Carpooled	7.8%	7.1%
Public transit	0.6%	0.0%
Walked	3.6%	1.4%
Bicycle	0.4%	0.1%
Worked from home	4.0%	3.7%
Other means	1.2%	0.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Columbia County	Ouachita County
1-unit, detached	69.2%	75.3%
1-unit, attached	1.0%	0.7%
2 to 4 units	5.2%	6.4%
5 to 19 units	5.0%	2.8%
20 or more units	2.1%	0.2%
Mobile home & other	17.4%	14.5%

Poverty & households

	Columbia County	Ouachita County
Poverty rate	22.7%	17.9%
Average household size	2.45	2.55
Mean commute (minutes)	22	21
Median year structure built	1981	1974