Douglas County vs Polk County

A side-by-side comparison of Douglas County and Polk County: population, income, housing, and more.

Douglas County and Polk County are counties in Oregon. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Douglas County has the higher population (111,807 vs 88,553 in Polk County). Polk County has the higher median household income ($81,318 vs $58,983 in Douglas County). Polk County has the higher median home value ($419,500 vs $283,200 in Douglas County).

Population, income & housing

	Douglas County	Polk County
Population	111,807	88,553
Median age	46.6 yrs	37.6 yrs
Median household income	$58,983	$81,318
Median home value	$283,200	$419,500
Median gross rent	$995	$1,270
Housing units	50,257	34,446
Homeownership rate	71.8%	64.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.9%	30.6%
Unemployment rate	5.9%	5.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Douglas County	Polk County
Population	109,114 → 111,807 (+2.5%)	83,037 → 88,553 (+6.6%)
Median household income	$47,267 → $58,983 (+24.8%)	$62,691 → $81,318 (+29.7%)
Median home value	$199,200 → $283,200 (+42.2%)	$265,200 → $419,500 (+58.2%)
Median gross rent	$824 → $995 (+20.8%)	$994 → $1,270 (+27.8%)

Douglas County

Population

109,114111,807

Median household income

$47,267$58,983

Median home value

$199,200$283,200

Median gross rent

$824$995

Polk County

Population

83,03788,553

Median household income

$62,691$81,318

Median home value

$265,200$419,500

Median gross rent

$994$1,270

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Douglas County	Polk County
Under 5	4.7%	5.3%
5 to 17	14.4%	16.8%
18 to 24	6.5%	12.0%
25 to 34	11.0%	12.3%
35 to 44	11.4%	12.2%
45 to 54	11.2%	11.2%
55 to 64	14.5%	11.3%
65 to 74	15.2%	10.9%
75 and over	11.0%	7.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Douglas County	Polk County
White (non-Hispanic)	85.1%	74.9%
Black or African American	0.3%	0.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.8%	1.1%
Asian	0.9%	1.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.4%
Some other race	0.7%	0.5%
Two or more races	5.7%	5.6%
Hispanic or Latino	6.4%	15.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Douglas County	Polk County
No high school diploma	8.4%	8.2%
High school graduate	31.9%	23.8%
Some college or associate's	40.8%	37.4%
Bachelor's degree	12.1%	18.7%
Graduate or professional degree	6.9%	11.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Douglas County	Polk County
Drove alone	73.7%	68.9%
Carpooled	12.5%	9.7%
Public transit	0.3%	0.6%
Walked	2.6%	2.9%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.7%
Worked from home	9.7%	16.0%
Other means	0.9%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Douglas County	Polk County
1-unit, detached	66.8%	67.3%
1-unit, attached	2.5%	3.4%
2 to 4 units	5.4%	8.2%
5 to 19 units	2.9%	8.4%
20 or more units	2.9%	6.1%
Mobile home & other	19.5%	6.6%

Poverty & households

	Douglas County	Polk County
Poverty rate	15.6%	12.2%
Average household size	2.35	2.66
Mean commute (minutes)	20	26
Median year structure built	1976	1989