McCreary County vs Russell County

A side-by-side comparison of McCreary County and Russell County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Russell County has the higher population (18,117 vs 16,905 in McCreary County). Russell County has the higher median household income ($50,520 vs $37,355 in McCreary County). Russell County has the higher median home value ($148,200 vs $77,000 in McCreary County).

Population, income & housing

	McCreary County	Russell County
Population	16,905	18,117
Median age	38.7 yrs	42.2 yrs
Median household income	$37,355	$50,520
Median home value	$77,000	$148,200
Median gross rent	$588	$660
Housing units	6,919	10,146
Homeownership rate	74.4%	73.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	9.1%	15.8%
Unemployment rate	2.3%	6.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	McCreary County	Russell County
Population	17,465 → 16,905 (-3.2%)	17,778 → 18,117 (+1.9%)
Median household income	$28,105 → $37,355 (+32.9%)	$38,390 → $50,520 (+31.6%)
Median home value	$69,700 → $77,000 (+10.5%)	$95,000 → $148,200 (+56.0%)
Median gross rent	$555 → $588 (+5.9%)	$549 → $660 (+20.2%)

McCreary County

Population

17,46516,905

Median household income

$28,105$37,355

Median home value

$69,700$77,000

Median gross rent

$555$588

Russell County

Population

17,77818,117

Median household income

$38,390$50,520

Median home value

$95,000$148,200

Median gross rent

$549$660

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	McCreary County	Russell County
Under 5	5.6%	5.7%
5 to 17	16.3%	17.4%
18 to 24	7.8%	7.9%
25 to 34	13.7%	11.0%
35 to 44	14.1%	10.5%
45 to 54	13.6%	12.5%
55 to 64	12.9%	14.4%
65 to 74	9.9%	12.5%
75 and over	6.2%	8.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	McCreary County	Russell County
White (non-Hispanic)	89.0%	92.1%
Black or African American	6.6%	1.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	0.1%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.1%
Some other race	0.1%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.4%	2.5%
Hispanic or Latino	1.8%	4.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	McCreary County	Russell County
No high school diploma	22.5%	18.2%
High school graduate	40.0%	38.2%
Some college or associate's	28.3%	27.8%
Bachelor's degree	5.3%	8.2%
Graduate or professional degree	3.8%	7.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	McCreary County	Russell County
Drove alone	78.6%	85.3%
Carpooled	11.6%	8.0%
Public transit	0.1%	0.1%
Walked	0.1%	2.0%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.0%
Worked from home	7.6%	4.1%
Other means	1.8%	0.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	McCreary County	Russell County
1-unit, detached	63.9%	70.2%
1-unit, attached	1.6%	1.0%
2 to 4 units	5.5%	4.1%
5 to 19 units	0.8%	2.6%
20 or more units	0.8%	1.5%
Mobile home & other	27.4%	20.6%

Poverty & households

	McCreary County	Russell County
Poverty rate	35.1%	23.4%
Average household size	2.69	2.48
Mean commute (minutes)	32	20
Median year structure built	1985	1989