Ottawa County vs Washington County

A side-by-side comparison of Ottawa County and Washington County: population, income, housing, and more.

Ottawa County and Washington County are counties in Kansas. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Ottawa County has the higher population (5,782 vs 5,519 in Washington County). Ottawa County has the higher median household income ($76,755 vs $62,452 in Washington County). Ottawa County has the higher median home value ($164,100 vs $106,100 in Washington County).

Population, income & housing

	Ottawa County	Washington County
Population	5,782	5,519
Median age	42.5 yrs	43.9 yrs
Median household income	$76,755	$62,452
Median home value	$164,100	$106,100
Median gross rent	$738	$547
Housing units	2,684	2,731
Homeownership rate	78.0%	78.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	24.3%	23.3%
Unemployment rate	3.2%	1.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Ottawa County	Washington County
Population	5,822 → 5,782 (-0.7%)	5,493 → 5,519 (+0.5%)
Median household income	$54,784 → $76,755 (+40.1%)	$50,588 → $62,452 (+23.5%)
Median home value	$105,700 → $164,100 (+55.3%)	$82,000 → $106,100 (+29.4%)
Median gross rent	$662 → $738 (+11.5%)	$456 → $547 (+20.0%)

Ottawa County

Population

5,8225,782

Median household income

$54,784$76,755

Median home value

$105,700$164,100

Median gross rent

$662$738

Washington County

Population

5,4935,519

Median household income

$50,588$62,452

Median home value

$82,000$106,100

Median gross rent

$456$547

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Ottawa County	Washington County
Under 5	5.7%	6.7%
5 to 17	17.4%	17.2%
18 to 24	6.8%	6.8%
25 to 34	10.1%	9.9%
35 to 44	12.7%	10.1%
45 to 54	11.7%	11.3%
55 to 64	15.0%	14.5%
65 to 74	12.2%	12.5%
75 and over	8.4%	10.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Ottawa County	Washington County
White (non-Hispanic)	93.1%	91.4%
Black or African American	0.7%	0.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.5%	0.2%
Asian	0.1%	0.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	1.0%
Two or more races	2.5%	2.0%
Hispanic or Latino	3.2%	4.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Ottawa County	Washington County
No high school diploma	5.2%	5.5%
High school graduate	31.5%	38.0%
Some college or associate's	39.0%	33.2%
Bachelor's degree	18.4%	15.9%
Graduate or professional degree	5.9%	7.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Ottawa County	Washington County
Drove alone	79.1%	79.4%
Carpooled	6.5%	7.7%
Public transit	0.5%	0.0%
Walked	4.4%	4.2%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.0%
Worked from home	8.9%	7.4%
Other means	0.3%	1.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Ottawa County	Washington County
1-unit, detached	87.0%	89.9%
1-unit, attached	0.8%	0.6%
2 to 4 units	7.4%	5.4%
5 to 19 units	0.7%	1.3%
20 or more units	1.2%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	2.9%	2.8%

Poverty & households

	Ottawa County	Washington County
Poverty rate	12.1%	8.1%
Average household size	2.39	2.27
Mean commute (minutes)	24	21
Median year structure built	1964	1954