Franklin County vs Nelson County

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

Franklin 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.

Franklin County has the higher population (51,563 vs 47,102 in Nelson County). Nelson County has the higher median household income ($67,888 vs $66,470 in Franklin County). Nelson County has the higher median home value ($224,100 vs $198,700 in Franklin County).

Population, income & housing

	Franklin County	Nelson County
Population	51,563	47,102
Median age	40.6 yrs	39.7 yrs
Median household income	$66,470	$67,888
Median home value	$198,700	$224,100
Median gross rent	$946	$932
Housing units	24,082	20,062
Homeownership rate	64.4%	77.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	31.8%	22.8%
Unemployment rate	5.6%	3.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Franklin County	Nelson County
Population	50,529 → 51,563 (+2.0%)	45,650 → 47,102 (+3.2%)
Median household income	$56,274 → $66,470 (+18.1%)	$60,127 → $67,888 (+12.9%)
Median home value	$142,900 → $198,700 (+39.0%)	$154,700 → $224,100 (+44.9%)
Median gross rent	$762 → $946 (+24.1%)	$761 → $932 (+22.5%)

Franklin County

Population

50,52951,563

Median household income

$56,274$66,470

Median home value

$142,900$198,700

Median gross rent

$762$946

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)

	Franklin County	Nelson County
Under 5	5.5%	6.0%
5 to 17	15.6%	17.4%
18 to 24	8.7%	7.8%
25 to 34	13.5%	12.9%
35 to 44	12.3%	12.0%
45 to 54	12.7%	13.1%
55 to 64	13.4%	14.0%
65 to 74	11.6%	10.6%
75 and over	6.8%	6.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Franklin County	Nelson County
White (non-Hispanic)	80.9%	89.5%
Black or African American	9.2%	5.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	1.9%	0.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.2%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.0%
Two or more races	3.6%	2.1%
Hispanic or Latino	4.1%	2.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Franklin County	Nelson County
No high school diploma	7.5%	8.1%
High school graduate	30.5%	36.7%
Some college or associate's	30.1%	32.3%
Bachelor's degree	18.5%	14.2%
Graduate or professional degree	13.4%	8.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Franklin County	Nelson County
Drove alone	74.1%	84.6%
Carpooled	9.1%	6.9%
Public transit	1.1%	0.0%
Walked	1.9%	1.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	13.2%	5.4%
Other means	0.6%	1.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Franklin County	Nelson County
1-unit, detached	65.9%	80.7%
1-unit, attached	2.8%	3.2%
2 to 4 units	11.2%	4.9%
5 to 19 units	10.9%	4.4%
20 or more units	3.7%	0.3%
Mobile home & other	5.5%	6.5%

Poverty & households

	Franklin County	Nelson County
Poverty rate	13.4%	9.7%
Average household size	2.21	2.48
Mean commute (minutes)	20	26
Median year structure built	1977	1990