Jefferson vs West Jefferson

A side-by-side comparison of Jefferson and West Jefferson: population, income, housing, and more.

Jefferson and West Jefferson are places in North Carolina. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Jefferson has the higher population (1,852 vs 1,567 in West Jefferson). West Jefferson has the higher median household income ($54,306 vs $35,938 in Jefferson). West Jefferson has the higher median home value ($217,900 vs $186,300 in Jefferson).

Population, income & housing

	Jefferson	West Jefferson
Population	1,852	1,567
Median age	50.1 yrs	43.6 yrs
Median household income	$35,938	$54,306
Median home value	$186,300	$217,900
Median gross rent	$688	$517
Housing units	925	724
Homeownership rate	50.2%	56.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	9.4%	15.5%
Unemployment rate	4.2%	16.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Jefferson	West Jefferson
Population	1,441 → 1,852 (+28.5%)	1,539 → 1,567 (+1.8%)
Median household income	$30,994 → $35,938 (+16.0%)	$29,417 → $54,306 (+84.6%)
Median home value	$154,400 → $186,300 (+20.7%)	$156,700 → $217,900 (+39.1%)
Median gross rent	$550 → $688 (+25.1%)	$574 → $517 (-9.9%)

Jefferson

Population

1,4411,852

Median household income

$30,994$35,938

Median home value

$154,400$186,300

Median gross rent

$550$688

West Jefferson

Population

1,5391,567

Median household income

$29,417$54,306

Median home value

$156,700$217,900

Median gross rent

$574$517

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Jefferson	West Jefferson
Under 5	4.2%	3.4%
5 to 17	12.5%	14.7%
18 to 24	5.4%	6.1%
25 to 34	15.6%	14.9%
35 to 44	6.6%	13.7%
45 to 54	11.4%	14.0%
55 to 64	11.9%	11.4%
65 to 74	14.8%	9.2%
75 and over	17.6%	12.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Jefferson	West Jefferson
White (non-Hispanic)	88.4%	85.1%
Black or African American	1.6%	8.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.3%	3.0%
Hispanic or Latino	7.6%	4.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Jefferson	West Jefferson
No high school diploma	14.1%	12.5%
High school graduate	36.2%	38.8%
Some college or associate's	40.3%	33.2%
Bachelor's degree	4.8%	10.4%
Graduate or professional degree	4.6%	5.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Jefferson	West Jefferson
Drove alone	78.3%	82.7%
Carpooled	11.2%	11.3%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	0.1%	2.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	9.4%	4.0%
Other means	1.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Jefferson	West Jefferson
1-unit, detached	55.6%	75.1%
1-unit, attached	1.4%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	6.9%	10.1%
5 to 19 units	12.0%	9.4%
20 or more units	20.2%	2.8%
Mobile home & other	3.9%	2.6%

Poverty & households

	Jefferson	West Jefferson
Poverty rate	25.7%	15.3%
Average household size	2.01	2.59
Mean commute (minutes)	16	18
Median year structure built	1975	1970