Barren County vs Nelson County

A side-by-side comparison of Barren County and Nelson County: population, income, housing, and more.

Barren County and Nelson County are counties in Kentucky. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Nelson County has the higher population (47,102 vs 44,670 in Barren County). Nelson County has the higher median household income ($67,888 vs $49,171 in Barren County). Nelson County has the higher median home value ($224,100 vs $166,900 in Barren County).

Population, income & housing

	Barren County	Nelson County
Population	44,670	47,102
Median age	40.1 yrs	39.7 yrs
Median household income	$49,171	$67,888
Median home value	$166,900	$224,100
Median gross rent	$784	$932
Housing units	20,107	20,062
Homeownership rate	65.2%	77.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.8%	22.8%
Unemployment rate	4.8%	3.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Barren County	Nelson County
Population	43,884 → 44,670 (+1.8%)	45,650 → 47,102 (+3.2%)
Median household income	$41,459 → $49,171 (+18.6%)	$60,127 → $67,888 (+12.9%)
Median home value	$125,400 → $166,900 (+33.1%)	$154,700 → $224,100 (+44.9%)
Median gross rent	$681 → $784 (+15.1%)	$761 → $932 (+22.5%)

Barren County

Population

43,88444,670

Median household income

$41,459$49,171

Median home value

$125,400$166,900

Median gross rent

$681$784

Nelson County

Population

45,65047,102

Median household income

$60,127$67,888

Median home value

$154,700$224,100

Median gross rent

$761$932

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Barren County	Nelson County
Under 5	5.9%	6.0%
5 to 17	17.8%	17.4%
18 to 24	7.2%	7.8%
25 to 34	12.6%	12.9%
35 to 44	12.6%	12.0%
45 to 54	12.5%	13.1%
55 to 64	13.5%	14.0%
65 to 74	10.7%	10.6%
75 and over	7.2%	6.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Barren County	Nelson County
White (non-Hispanic)	88.1%	89.5%
Black or African American	3.6%	5.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.8%	0.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.8%	2.1%
Hispanic or Latino	4.3%	2.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Barren County	Nelson County
No high school diploma	13.5%	8.1%
High school graduate	42.9%	36.7%
Some college or associate's	25.8%	32.3%
Bachelor's degree	11.1%	14.2%
Graduate or professional degree	6.8%	8.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Barren County	Nelson County
Drove alone	76.9%	84.6%
Carpooled	12.9%	6.9%
Public transit	0.4%	0.0%
Walked	1.6%	1.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.6%	5.4%
Other means	1.5%	1.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Barren County	Nelson County
1-unit, detached	69.0%	80.7%
1-unit, attached	1.6%	3.2%
2 to 4 units	12.1%	4.9%
5 to 19 units	3.3%	4.4%
20 or more units	1.1%	0.3%
Mobile home & other	12.9%	6.5%

Poverty & households

	Barren County	Nelson County
Poverty rate	21.0%	9.7%
Average household size	2.45	2.48
Mean commute (minutes)	23	26
Median year structure built	1984	1990