Athens vs Bluefield

A side-by-side comparison of Athens and Bluefield: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Bluefield has the higher population (9,511 vs 1,156 in Athens). Athens has the higher median household income ($62,292 vs $43,826 in Bluefield). Athens has the higher median home value ($156,800 vs $101,000 in Bluefield).

Population, income & housing

	Athens	Bluefield
Population	1,156	9,511
Median age	27.3 yrs	41.2 yrs
Median household income	$62,292	$43,826
Median home value	$156,800	$101,000
Median gross rent	$1,020	$790
Housing units	468	4,850
Homeownership rate	74.0%	54.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	53.5%	24.7%
Unemployment rate	8.2%	6.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Athens	Bluefield
Population	1,149 → 1,156 (+0.6%)	9,889 → 9,511 (-3.8%)
Median household income	$53,333 → $62,292 (+16.8%)	$36,793 → $43,826 (+19.1%)
Median home value	$114,100 → $156,800 (+37.4%)	$84,100 → $101,000 (+20.1%)
Median gross rent	$663 → $1,020 (+53.8%)	$664 → $790 (+19.0%)

Athens

Population

1,1491,156

Median household income

$53,333$62,292

Median home value

$114,100$156,800

Median gross rent

$663$1,020

Bluefield

Population

9,8899,511

Median household income

$36,793$43,826

Median home value

$84,100$101,000

Median gross rent

$664$790

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Athens	Bluefield
Under 5	2.4%	7.3%
5 to 17	22.2%	14.9%
18 to 24	24.7%	9.6%
25 to 34	4.6%	12.4%
35 to 44	12.5%	8.2%
45 to 54	8.4%	16.3%
55 to 64	10.1%	11.5%
65 to 74	8.2%	9.8%
75 and over	6.8%	10.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Athens	Bluefield
White (non-Hispanic)	88.0%	75.0%
Black or African American	6.0%	15.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	1.0%	0.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.6%
Two or more races	3.5%	6.1%
Hispanic or Latino	1.6%	3.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Athens	Bluefield
No high school diploma	1.5%	12.9%
High school graduate	26.8%	28.7%
Some college or associate's	18.1%	33.7%
Bachelor's degree	33.8%	16.1%
Graduate or professional degree	19.7%	8.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Athens	Bluefield
Drove alone	58.9%	79.4%
Carpooled	13.9%	8.2%
Public transit	0.0%	1.1%
Walked	8.0%	1.0%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.0%
Worked from home	17.0%	7.4%
Other means	1.9%	2.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Athens	Bluefield
1-unit, detached	72.4%	75.2%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	2.6%
2 to 4 units	3.6%	4.7%
5 to 19 units	23.3%	8.5%
20 or more units	0.0%	5.9%
Mobile home & other	0.6%	3.2%

Poverty & households

	Athens	Bluefield
Poverty rate	9.7%	20.1%
Average household size	3.13	2.34
Mean commute (minutes)	19	22
Median year structure built	1960	1954