Paintsville vs West Van Lear

A side-by-side comparison of Paintsville and West Van Lear: population, income, housing, and more.

Paintsville and West Van Lear are places in Kentucky. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Paintsville has the higher population (4,256 vs 1,224 in West Van Lear). West Van Lear has the higher median household income ($78,625 vs $26,713 in Paintsville). West Van Lear has the higher median home value ($131,100 vs $110,800 in Paintsville).

Population, income & housing

	Paintsville	West Van Lear
Population	4,256	1,224
Median age	41.9 yrs	29.8 yrs
Median household income	$26,713	$78,625
Median home value	$110,800	$131,100
Median gross rent	$631	—
Housing units	2,157	512
Homeownership rate	36.7%	96.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.2%	20.1%
Unemployment rate	4.2%	0.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Paintsville	West Van Lear
Population	4,090 → 4,256 (+4.1%)	1,231 → 1,224 (-0.6%)
Median household income	$31,550 → $26,713 (-15.3%)	$69,375 → $78,625 (+13.3%)
Median home value	$161,200 → $110,800 (-31.3%)	$129,700 → $131,100 (+1.1%)
Median gross rent	$571 → $631 (+10.5%)	—

Paintsville

Population

4,0904,256

Median household income

$31,550$26,713

Median home value

$161,200$110,800

Median gross rent

$571$631

West Van Lear

Population

1,2311,224

Median household income

$69,375$78,625

Median home value

$129,700$131,100

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Paintsville	West Van Lear
Under 5	4.6%	7.8%
5 to 17	20.0%	14.3%
18 to 24	10.5%	4.2%
25 to 34	7.4%	27.8%
35 to 44	10.1%	21.7%
45 to 54	17.2%	11.0%
55 to 64	18.3%	4.2%
65 to 74	7.9%	6.4%
75 and over	3.9%	2.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Paintsville	West Van Lear
White (non-Hispanic)	94.5%	96.0%
Black or African American	0.4%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.0%
Asian	2.9%	4.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	1.7%	0.0%
Hispanic or Latino	0.3%	0.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Paintsville	West Van Lear
No high school diploma	17.8%	0.0%
High school graduate	43.7%	28.5%
Some college or associate's	21.3%	51.4%
Bachelor's degree	8.5%	14.9%
Graduate or professional degree	8.7%	5.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Paintsville	West Van Lear
Drove alone	78.7%	86.1%
Carpooled	3.8%	0.0%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	2.1%	0.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	15.4%	13.9%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Paintsville	West Van Lear
1-unit, detached	50.9%	86.7%
1-unit, attached	2.6%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	11.3%	0.0%
5 to 19 units	17.9%	0.0%
20 or more units	12.0%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	5.3%	13.3%

Poverty & households

	Paintsville	West Van Lear
Poverty rate	34.7%	2.9%
Average household size	2.28	2.62
Mean commute (minutes)	18	27
Median year structure built	1976	1987