Fayette County vs Jefferson County

A side-by-side comparison of Fayette County and Jefferson County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Jefferson County has the higher population (777,392 vs 321,122 in Fayette County). Jefferson County has the higher median household income ($67,849 vs $67,631 in Fayette County). Fayette County has the higher median home value ($272,100 vs $237,200 in Jefferson County).

Population, income & housing

	Fayette County	Jefferson County
Population	321,122	777,392
Median age	35.2 yrs	38.4 yrs
Median household income	$67,631	$67,849
Median home value	$272,100	$237,200
Median gross rent	$1,101	$1,097
Housing units	147,720	357,923
Homeownership rate	53.6%	61.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	47.3%	36.6%
Unemployment rate	5.0%	4.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Fayette County	Jefferson County
Population	320,601 → 321,122 (+0.2%)	767,419 → 777,392 (+1.3%)
Median household income	$57,291 → $67,631 (+18.0%)	$56,586 → $67,849 (+19.9%)
Median home value	$189,800 → $272,100 (+43.4%)	$170,100 → $237,200 (+39.4%)
Median gross rent	$896 → $1,101 (+22.9%)	$871 → $1,097 (+25.9%)

Fayette County

Population

320,601321,122

Median household income

$57,291$67,631

Median home value

$189,800$272,100

Median gross rent

$896$1,101

Jefferson County

Population

767,419777,392

Median household income

$56,586$67,849

Median home value

$170,100$237,200

Median gross rent

$871$1,097

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Fayette County	Jefferson County
Under 5	5.7%	6.1%
5 to 17	15.3%	16.1%
18 to 24	13.7%	8.4%
25 to 34	15.0%	14.6%
35 to 44	13.1%	13.0%
45 to 54	11.6%	11.9%
55 to 64	11.2%	13.0%
65 to 74	8.8%	10.3%
75 and over	5.6%	6.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Fayette County	Jefferson County
White (non-Hispanic)	67.8%	63.3%
Black or African American	14.3%	21.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	4.1%	2.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.3%
Two or more races	4.3%	3.8%
Hispanic or Latino	9.2%	7.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Fayette County	Jefferson County
No high school diploma	7.6%	8.5%
High school graduate	19.0%	25.9%
Some college or associate's	26.1%	29.0%
Bachelor's degree	26.5%	21.5%
Graduate or professional degree	20.8%	15.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Fayette County	Jefferson County
Drove alone	74.8%	73.7%
Carpooled	8.4%	8.3%
Public transit	1.3%	1.9%
Walked	3.0%	1.9%
Bicycle	0.5%	0.2%
Worked from home	10.9%	12.4%
Other means	1.0%	1.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Fayette County	Jefferson County
1-unit, detached	58.4%	64.1%
1-unit, attached	6.7%	4.1%
2 to 4 units	7.7%	10.0%
5 to 19 units	16.2%	13.0%
20 or more units	10.0%	7.6%
Mobile home & other	1.0%	1.2%

Poverty & households

	Fayette County	Jefferson County
Poverty rate	15.7%	14.5%
Average household size	2.24	2.32
Mean commute (minutes)	21	22
Median year structure built	1983	1971