Athens vs Princeton

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

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

Princeton has the higher population (5,780 vs 1,156 in Athens). Athens has the higher median household income ($62,292 vs $44,428 in Princeton). Athens has the higher median home value ($156,800 vs $115,800 in Princeton).

Population, income & housing

	Athens	Princeton
Population	1,156	5,780
Median age	27.3 yrs	43.4 yrs
Median household income	$62,292	$44,428
Median home value	$156,800	$115,800
Median gross rent	$1,020	$830
Housing units	468	3,288
Homeownership rate	74.0%	54.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	53.5%	19.2%
Unemployment rate	8.2%	5.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Athens	Princeton
Population	1,149 → 1,156 (+0.6%)	5,831 → 5,780 (-0.9%)
Median household income	$53,333 → $62,292 (+16.8%)	$42,025 → $44,428 (+5.7%)
Median home value	$114,100 → $156,800 (+37.4%)	$93,700 → $115,800 (+23.6%)
Median gross rent	$663 → $1,020 (+53.8%)	$711 → $830 (+16.7%)

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

Princeton

Population

5,8315,780

Median household income

$42,025$44,428

Median home value

$93,700$115,800

Median gross rent

$711$830

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Athens	Princeton
Under 5	2.4%	5.6%
5 to 17	22.2%	13.3%
18 to 24	24.7%	6.4%
25 to 34	4.6%	17.0%
35 to 44	12.5%	9.5%
45 to 54	8.4%	17.1%
55 to 64	10.1%	9.6%
65 to 74	8.2%	12.8%
75 and over	6.8%	8.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Athens	Princeton
White (non-Hispanic)	88.0%	87.1%
Black or African American	6.0%	4.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	1.0%	0.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	3.5%	7.8%
Hispanic or Latino	1.6%	0.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Athens	Princeton
No high school diploma	1.5%	9.5%
High school graduate	26.8%	42.6%
Some college or associate's	18.1%	28.7%
Bachelor's degree	33.8%	12.0%
Graduate or professional degree	19.7%	7.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Athens	Princeton
Drove alone	58.9%	77.9%
Carpooled	13.9%	9.1%
Public transit	0.0%	0.5%
Walked	8.0%	3.8%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.0%
Worked from home	17.0%	8.7%
Other means	1.9%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Athens	Princeton
1-unit, detached	72.4%	64.3%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	2.6%
2 to 4 units	3.6%	14.1%
5 to 19 units	23.3%	10.3%
20 or more units	0.0%	3.5%
Mobile home & other	0.6%	5.2%

Poverty & households

	Athens	Princeton
Poverty rate	9.7%	21.4%
Average household size	3.13	2.24
Mean commute (minutes)	19	19
Median year structure built	1960	1956