Marion County vs Simpson County

A side-by-side comparison of Marion County and Simpson County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Simpson County has the higher population (19,786 vs 19,680 in Marion County). Simpson County has the higher median household income ($57,392 vs $55,404 in Marion County). Simpson County has the higher median home value ($195,700 vs $158,700 in Marion County).

Population, income & housing

	Marion County	Simpson County
Population	19,680	19,786
Median age	39.6 yrs	39.0 yrs
Median household income	$55,404	$57,392
Median home value	$158,700	$195,700
Median gross rent	$731	$1,011
Housing units	8,427	8,456
Homeownership rate	77.3%	66.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	12.7%	16.8%
Unemployment rate	5.5%	3.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Marion County	Simpson County
Population	19,244 → 19,680 (+2.3%)	18,183 → 19,786 (+8.8%)
Median household income	$40,107 → $55,404 (+38.1%)	$48,623 → $57,392 (+18.0%)
Median home value	$105,400 → $158,700 (+50.6%)	$135,200 → $195,700 (+44.7%)
Median gross rent	$630 → $731 (+16.0%)	$804 → $1,011 (+25.7%)

Marion County

Population

19,24419,680

Median household income

$40,107$55,404

Median home value

$105,400$158,700

Median gross rent

$630$731

Simpson County

Population

18,18319,786

Median household income

$48,623$57,392

Median home value

$135,200$195,700

Median gross rent

$804$1,011

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Marion County	Simpson County
Under 5	6.3%	5.8%
5 to 17	17.7%	17.7%
18 to 24	8.0%	8.9%
25 to 34	12.7%	13.1%
35 to 44	12.1%	12.1%
45 to 54	12.3%	12.2%
55 to 64	14.0%	14.3%
65 to 74	10.1%	9.7%
75 and over	6.8%	6.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Marion County	Simpson County
White (non-Hispanic)	86.6%	84.2%
Black or African American	7.2%	6.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.6%	0.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.1%
Two or more races	1.9%	5.2%
Hispanic or Latino	3.5%	3.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Marion County	Simpson County
No high school diploma	13.7%	10.8%
High school graduate	45.9%	40.5%
Some college or associate's	27.7%	32.0%
Bachelor's degree	6.5%	10.5%
Graduate or professional degree	6.2%	6.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Marion County	Simpson County
Drove alone	88.2%	79.5%
Carpooled	6.6%	12.8%
Public transit	0.0%	0.3%
Walked	0.4%	1.6%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	2.9%	5.2%
Other means	1.8%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Marion County	Simpson County
1-unit, detached	75.2%	79.0%
1-unit, attached	0.5%	0.7%
2 to 4 units	5.4%	6.1%
5 to 19 units	3.6%	6.1%
20 or more units	1.5%	0.5%
Mobile home & other	13.8%	7.6%

Poverty & households

	Marion County	Simpson County
Poverty rate	19.5%	15.1%
Average household size	2.46	2.52
Mean commute (minutes)	21	22
Median year structure built	1982	1979