Columbus County vs Watauga County

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

Columbus County and Watauga County are counties in North Carolina. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Watauga County has the higher population (54,607 vs 50,453 in Columbus County). Watauga County has the higher median household income ($51,367 vs $48,184 in Columbus County). Watauga County has the higher median home value ($321,500 vs $128,300 in Columbus County).

Population, income & housing

	Columbus County	Watauga County
Population	50,453	54,607
Median age	42.4 yrs	32.2 yrs
Median household income	$48,184	$51,367
Median home value	$128,300	$321,500
Median gross rent	$775	$1,066
Housing units	23,560	33,028
Homeownership rate	72.3%	61.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.1%	47.7%
Unemployment rate	4.7%	9.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Columbus County	Watauga County
Population	56,068 → 50,453 (-10.0%)	54,925 → 54,607 (-0.6%)
Median household income	$37,628 → $48,184 (+28.1%)	$47,526 → $51,367 (+8.1%)
Median home value	$88,900 → $128,300 (+44.3%)	$238,000 → $321,500 (+35.1%)
Median gross rent	$633 → $775 (+22.4%)	$870 → $1,066 (+22.5%)

Columbus County

Population

56,06850,453

Median household income

$37,628$48,184

Median home value

$88,900$128,300

Median gross rent

$633$775

Watauga County

Population

54,92554,607

Median household income

$47,526$51,367

Median home value

$238,000$321,500

Median gross rent

$870$1,066

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Columbus County	Watauga County
Under 5	5.2%	3.0%
5 to 17	15.5%	9.4%
18 to 24	8.5%	30.5%
25 to 34	12.3%	10.2%
35 to 44	11.5%	9.4%
45 to 54	12.7%	9.6%
55 to 64	13.9%	11.2%
65 to 74	12.0%	10.2%
75 and over	8.5%	6.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Columbus County	Watauga County
White (non-Hispanic)	59.0%	88.9%
Black or African American	28.6%	1.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	3.0%	0.2%
Asian	0.4%	1.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.1%
Two or more races	3.4%	2.0%
Hispanic or Latino	5.5%	6.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Columbus County	Watauga County
No high school diploma	13.5%	7.6%
High school graduate	36.7%	20.8%
Some college or associate's	34.8%	24.0%
Bachelor's degree	10.1%	25.8%
Graduate or professional degree	4.9%	21.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Columbus County	Watauga County
Drove alone	84.9%	74.7%
Carpooled	7.6%	9.9%
Public transit	0.0%	1.2%
Walked	2.1%	3.9%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.1%
Worked from home	4.8%	9.6%
Other means	0.5%	0.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Columbus County	Watauga County
1-unit, detached	62.8%	64.7%
1-unit, attached	0.5%	1.5%
2 to 4 units	3.5%	8.0%
5 to 19 units	2.1%	12.1%
20 or more units	0.9%	5.7%
Mobile home & other	30.1%	8.0%

Poverty & households

	Columbus County	Watauga County
Poverty rate	18.8%	24.7%
Average household size	2.49	2.29
Mean commute (minutes)	28	21
Median year structure built	1981	1987