Harpers Ferry vs Shepherdstown

A side-by-side comparison of Harpers Ferry and Shepherdstown: population, income, housing, and more.

Harpers Ferry and Shepherdstown are places in West Virginia. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Shepherdstown has the higher population (1,399 vs 342 in Harpers Ferry). Harpers Ferry has the higher median household income ($111,600 vs $62,500 in Shepherdstown). Shepherdstown has the higher median home value ($474,500 vs $430,800 in Harpers Ferry).

Population, income & housing

	Harpers Ferry	Shepherdstown
Population	342	1,399
Median age	54.5 yrs	21.7 yrs
Median household income	$111,600	$62,500
Median home value	$430,800	$474,500
Median gross rent	$1,813	$1,152
Housing units	205	350
Homeownership rate	80.0%	63.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	60.9%	71.4%
Unemployment rate	4.8%	13.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Harpers Ferry	Shepherdstown
Population	233 → 342 (+46.8%)	1,553 → 1,399 (-9.9%)
Median household income	$59,844 → $111,600 (+86.5%)	$45,833 → $62,500 (+36.4%)
Median home value	$331,700 → $430,800 (+29.9%)	$303,600 → $474,500 (+56.3%)
Median gross rent	$978 → $1,813 (+85.4%)	$916 → $1,152 (+25.8%)

Harpers Ferry

Population

233342

Median household income

$59,844$111,600

Median home value

$331,700$430,800

Median gross rent

$978$1,813

Shepherdstown

Population

1,5531,399

Median household income

$45,833$62,500

Median home value

$303,600$474,500

Median gross rent

$916$1,152

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Harpers Ferry	Shepherdstown
Under 5	3.8%	1.1%
5 to 17	12.6%	4.4%
18 to 24	1.5%	62.0%
25 to 34	7.0%	6.1%
35 to 44	12.3%	6.9%
45 to 54	13.5%	3.9%
55 to 64	18.4%	3.4%
65 to 74	19.3%	7.0%
75 and over	11.7%	5.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Harpers Ferry	Shepherdstown
White (non-Hispanic)	98.0%	84.4%
Black or African American	0.6%	11.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	1.2%	1.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	1.1%
Two or more races	0.0%	0.8%
Hispanic or Latino	0.3%	1.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Harpers Ferry	Shepherdstown
No high school diploma	6.8%	2.6%
High school graduate	12.5%	3.5%
Some college or associate's	19.9%	22.5%
Bachelor's degree	21.0%	34.1%
Graduate or professional degree	39.9%	37.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Harpers Ferry	Shepherdstown
Drove alone	54.2%	45.5%
Carpooled	7.3%	1.3%
Public transit	0.6%	1.4%
Walked	5.1%	30.7%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	32.8%	21.1%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Harpers Ferry	Shepherdstown
1-unit, detached	85.9%	52.0%
1-unit, attached	5.9%	20.9%
2 to 4 units	1.5%	8.0%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	14.9%
20 or more units	0.0%	3.1%
Mobile home & other	6.8%	1.1%

Poverty & households

	Harpers Ferry	Shepherdstown
Poverty rate	2.3%	7.7%
Average household size	2.28	1.86
Mean commute (minutes)	45	18
Median year structure built	1938	1938