In many respects, the demographic makeup of Columbia County is very similar to the composition of the entire Mid-Hudson Valley population. However, there are some areas in which residents of Columbia County differ. For instance, as in 2002, a majority of people living in the county are in households with an annual income of less than $50,000. Nearly six in ten households in the county have an annual income of less than $50,000. In contrast, 58% of Mid-Hudson Valley households earn $50,000 or more per year.
The average household size of 2.8 in Columbia County is exactly the same as that of the Mid-Hudson region. Five years ago, the average household size in Columbia County was 2.6 while the average Mid-Hudson Valley home was larger with 2.9. Among households with children, the average household size in Columbia County is 4.2, the same as it is in the Mid-Hudson Valley as a whole.
The racial and ethnic composition of the county is more homogenous than the Mid-Hudson region as a whole. 93% of Columbia County residents identify themselves as white compared with 83% of the region’s residents. Only 2% of Columbia County residents are Latino compared with one in ten Mid-Hudson Valley residents. 4% of Columbia County residents are African American compared with 7% of the region as a whole.
Columbia County residents without a college degree outnumber college graduates by a wide margin. More than seven in ten county residents have not completed college compared with 65% of Mid-Hudson Valley residents.
Columbia County households continue to be less likely to include children than the average household in the Mid-Hudson region. 38% of Columbia County households include at least one child compared with 44% of all households regionally. 14% of Columbia County households have a family member who is under age five which is comparable to the regional proportion of 15%. About three in ten Columbia County households include school age children, less than the 38% of households in the region overall that have children age five to eighteen.
26% of Columbia County children live in households where the total household yearly income is less than $30,000. This compares with 21% of children in the entire Mid-Hudson region. As with the region as a whole, about one in ten Columbia County households with children are headed by a single parent.
Columbia County has one of the highest proportions of uninsured households in the region. 31% of all households have at least one member who has experienced a gap in coverage over the past year, and 16% of households in the county have someone who is not presently insured. These figures remain relatively unchanged since 2002.
There also has not been any progress in reducing the proportion of Columbia County’s uninsured children since 2002. 17% of all households with children have at least one child who has not had continuous coverage over the past year compared with 13% five years ago. 8% do not currently have insurance compared with 6% who were uninsured in 2002. The proportion of uninsured children in Columbia County is consistent with the overall Mid-Hudson region.
