Columbia County, Florida

• White (non-Hispanic) 50,441 70.3%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 5,663 7.9%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 11,550 16.1%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 691 1.0%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 2,784 3.9%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 53 0.1%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 28 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 579 0.8%

• Under 18 15,907 22.2%
• 18–24 5,657 7.9%
• 25–44 17,776 24.8%
• 45–64 17,897 24.9%
• 65 and over 14,552 20.3%

Median household income

$62,511

90% interval $56,804–$68,218

−$15,176 vs FL · 44th of 67

Below poverty line

16.0%

90% interval 12.4%–19.6%

+3.9 pp vs FL · 24th of 67

Unemployment (12-mo)

5.5%

+0.96 pp vs. state

County GDP

$3.5B

0.2% of state

Avg. annual pay

$53,224

Establishments

1,771

• Education & health services 6,855 27.6%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 5,651 22.7%
• Leisure & hospitality 2,892 11.6%
• Manufacturing 2,253 9.1%
• Public administration 2,008 8.1%
• Professional & business services 1,692 6.8%
• Financial activities 742 3.0%
• Other services 564 2.3%
• Construction 383 1.5%
• Natural resources & mining 37 0.1%

The sectors listed cover 92.9% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

Home ownership

72.5%

+4.9 pp vs FL · 48th of 67

Median gross rent

$976

−$693 vs FL · 47th of 67

Owner-occupied

19,886

Renter-occupied

7,544

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 62% of the county workforce. Substantial intra-sector overlap among panelists is likely; confirm employer relationships before sector-specific framing.

• Moderate wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Construction, $74,316/yr) pays 2.8× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $26,166/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.

• Mixed business scale

  Average establishment employs 14 workers, a mix of institutional employers and small businesses. Both employed-by-large-institution and small-business-owner perspectives are likely on the panel.

• Republican 25,108 74.7%
• Democratic 8,250 24.6%
• Other / third-party 234 0.7%

• Spanish 3,698 5.5%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 592 0.9%
• Vietnamese 214 0.3%
• German or other West Germanic 191 0.3%
• Tagalog 90 0.1%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 38 0.1%
• Korean 33 0.0%
• Chinese 32 0.0%

Households

27,430

Family households

18,481

67.4% of households

Married couples w/ children

4,690

25.4% of families

Single-mother families

1,945

10.5% of families

Veterans

6,180

11.1% of civilians 18+

• Evangelical Protestant 31,494 45.2%
• Black Protestant 2,182 3.1%
• Catholic 2,138 3.1%
• Mainline Protestant 1,993 2.9%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 1,864 2.7%

Health insured

87.4%

±1.5 pp

Uninsured

12.6%

±1.5 pp

23rd of 67

With a disability

21.2%

±1.7 pp

9th of 67

Bachelor's or higher

16.8%

±1.9 pp

−17.3 pp vs FL · 46th of 67

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

13.9%

90% interval 12.5%–15.3% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

Trial court

3rd Judicial Circuit Court

Judges

7 (Circuit Court judges per circuit (general civil + felony criminal jurisdiction); County Court judges (limited jurisdiction: claims ≤ $50,000, misdemeanors, traffic) separate. Vintage 2026 flcourts.gov; statutory judgeships are reauthorized annually by the Florida Supreme Court's certification of need under Fla. Stat. § 26.031 and may shift by ±1-2 between sessions. Counts for smaller rural circuits (3rd, 16th) are statutory minimums per § 26.031.)

Court seats

Cross City, Jasper, Lake City, Live Oak, Madison, Mayo, Perry

This judicial district spans multiple counties.

Traffic fatalities

27

48.32 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

25