Lincoln County vs Rowan County

A side-by-side comparison of Lincoln County and Rowan County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Rowan County has the higher population (24,525 vs 24,415 in Lincoln County). Rowan County has the higher median household income ($53,657 vs $50,862 in Lincoln County). Rowan County has the higher median home value ($155,900 vs $139,300 in Lincoln County).

Population, income & housing

	Lincoln County	Rowan County
Population	24,415	24,525
Median age	41.9 yrs	31.2 yrs
Median household income	$50,862	$53,657
Median home value	$139,300	$155,900
Median gross rent	$730	$815
Housing units	10,869	10,577
Homeownership rate	77.8%	63.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.2%	27.0%
Unemployment rate	7.6%	4.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Lincoln County	Rowan County
Population	24,476 → 24,415 (-0.2%)	24,507 → 24,525 (+0.1%)
Median household income	$42,919 → $50,862 (+18.5%)	$38,230 → $53,657 (+40.4%)
Median home value	$106,400 → $139,300 (+30.9%)	$124,200 → $155,900 (+25.5%)
Median gross rent	$651 → $730 (+12.1%)	$652 → $815 (+25.0%)

Lincoln County

Population

24,47624,415

Median household income

$42,919$50,862

Median home value

$106,400$139,300

Median gross rent

$651$730

Rowan County

Population

24,50724,525

Median household income

$38,230$53,657

Median home value

$124,200$155,900

Median gross rent

$652$815

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Lincoln County	Rowan County
Under 5	6.4%	5.4%
5 to 17	17.2%	14.2%
18 to 24	7.3%	21.4%
25 to 34	11.8%	13.0%
35 to 44	11.9%	10.3%
45 to 54	12.8%	10.6%
55 to 64	13.7%	10.9%
65 to 74	11.1%	8.4%
75 and over	7.8%	5.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Lincoln County	Rowan County
White (non-Hispanic)	92.6%	93.8%
Black or African American	1.7%	1.8%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.1%
Asian	0.3%	0.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	1.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.4%	1.2%
Hispanic or Latino	2.0%	2.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Lincoln County	Rowan County
No high school diploma	16.8%	12.7%
High school graduate	43.6%	33.4%
Some college or associate's	24.3%	26.9%
Bachelor's degree	9.3%	12.5%
Graduate or professional degree	5.9%	14.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Lincoln County	Rowan County
Drove alone	80.9%	75.2%
Carpooled	7.0%	9.0%
Public transit	0.1%	0.8%
Walked	2.3%	6.9%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.3%
Worked from home	9.5%	7.3%
Other means	0.3%	0.6%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Lincoln County	Rowan County
1-unit, detached	73.7%	59.3%
1-unit, attached	0.8%	0.5%
2 to 4 units	3.0%	7.8%
5 to 19 units	1.8%	7.9%
20 or more units	0.0%	0.5%
Mobile home & other	20.6%	24.0%

Poverty & households

	Lincoln County	Rowan County
Poverty rate	18.5%	24.5%
Average household size	2.50	2.32
Mean commute (minutes)	30	23
Median year structure built	1985	1992