Columbia County, Oregon

• White (non-Hispanic) 45,096 84.3%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3,603 6.7%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 332 0.6%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 423 0.8%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 3,224 6.0%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 401 0.7%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 227 0.4%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 187 0.3%

• Under 18 10,867 20.3%
• 18–24 3,651 6.8%
• 25–44 13,522 25.3%
• 45–64 14,699 27.5%
• 65 and over 10,754 20.1%

Median household income

$88,138

90% interval $80,310–$95,966

+$3,241 vs OR · 7th of 36

Below poverty line

9.8%

90% interval 7.6%–12.0%

−1.9 pp vs OR · 33rd of 36

Unemployment (12-mo)

6.1%

+0.89 pp vs. state

County GDP

$2.1B

0.63% of state

Avg. annual pay

$56,589

Establishments

1,392

• Education & health services 2,898 23.6%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 2,421 19.7%
• Manufacturing 1,489 12.1%
• Leisure & hospitality 1,435 11.7%
• Professional & business services 1,238 10.1%
• Construction 735 6.0%
• Public administration 619 5.0%
• Other services 486 4.0%
• Natural resources & mining 429 3.5%

The sectors listed cover 95.7% of covered employment; BLS withholds the rest to avoid disclosing individual employers.

Home ownership

76.1%

+12.8 pp vs OR · 2nd of 36

Median gross rent

$1,373

−$152 vs OR · 9th of 36

Owner-occupied

15,936

Renter-occupied

4,992

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 55% 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 (Public administration, $88,947/yr) pays 3.6× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $24,370/yr). Expect meaningful income variation across the panel.

• Small-business scale

  Average establishment employs only 8.8 workers, a small-business-dominated local economy. Expect more self-employed and small-business-owner panelists than in institutional-employer venues.

• Republican 17,184 55.3%
• Democratic 12,865 41.4%
• Other / third-party 1,045 3.4%

• Spanish 1,398 2.7%
• German or other West Germanic 253 0.5%
• Arabic 170 0.3%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 93 0.2%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 64 0.1%
• Vietnamese 61 0.1%
• Tagalog 41 0.1%
• Korean 18 0.0%
• Chinese 12 0.0%

Households

20,928

Family households

14,578

69.7% of households

Married couples w/ children

3,397

23.3% of families

Single-mother families

1,053

7.2% of families

Veterans

4,460

10.5% of civilians 18+

• Evangelical Protestant 5,126 9.7%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 3,345 6.4%
• Catholic 3,285 6.2%
• Mainline Protestant 806 1.5%

Health insured

94.6%

±1 pp

Uninsured

5.4%

±1 pp

25th of 36

With a disability

17.0%

±1.5 pp

25th of 36

Bachelor's or higher

19.8%

±1.9 pp

−17.0 pp vs OR · 27th of 36

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

5.8%

90% interval 5.1%–6.5% · Census SAHIE

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

Trial court

19th Judicial District Circuit Court

Judges

1 (Circuit Court judges per district (general civil + felony criminal jurisdiction); vintage 2026 courts.oregon.gov; cross-checked against ORS § 3.041. Justice Courts (limited jurisdiction: misdemeanors, traffic, small claims under $10K) operate per county and are not counted here. Multnomah County operates a separate County Court for probate / juvenile matters.)

Court seats

Saint Helens

Traffic fatalities

6

14.08 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

5