Benton County vs Vernon County

A side-by-side comparison of Benton County and Vernon County: population, income, housing, and more.

Benton County and Vernon County are counties in Missouri. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Benton County has the higher population (19,887 vs 19,713 in Vernon County). Vernon County has the higher median household income ($54,519 vs $52,200 in Benton County). Benton County has the higher median home value ($164,700 vs $136,700 in Vernon County).

Population, income & housing

	Benton County	Vernon County
Population	19,887	19,713
Median age	54.4 yrs	41.7 yrs
Median household income	$52,200	$54,519
Median home value	$164,700	$136,700
Median gross rent	$823	$722
Housing units	13,579	8,949
Homeownership rate	83.7%	72.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.2%	18.0%
Unemployment rate	3.9%	3.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Benton County	Vernon County
Population	19,107 → 19,887 (+4.1%)	20,595 → 19,713 (-4.3%)
Median household income	$40,249 → $52,200 (+29.7%)	$43,276 → $54,519 (+26.0%)
Median home value	$117,500 → $164,700 (+40.2%)	$98,300 → $136,700 (+39.1%)
Median gross rent	$638 → $823 (+29.0%)	$650 → $722 (+11.1%)

Benton County

Population

19,10719,887

Median household income

$40,249$52,200

Median home value

$117,500$164,700

Median gross rent

$638$823

Vernon County

Population

20,59519,713

Median household income

$43,276$54,519

Median home value

$98,300$136,700

Median gross rent

$650$722

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Benton County	Vernon County
Under 5	4.1%	5.9%
5 to 17	13.1%	18.0%
18 to 24	5.5%	8.2%
25 to 34	8.1%	11.1%
35 to 44	8.6%	11.0%
45 to 54	11.8%	11.7%
55 to 64	17.8%	13.7%
65 to 74	18.6%	11.6%
75 and over	12.5%	8.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Benton County	Vernon County
White (non-Hispanic)	92.4%	93.1%
Black or African American	0.9%	0.8%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.7%	0.1%
Asian	0.1%	0.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.6%	0.0%
Two or more races	3.4%	2.8%
Hispanic or Latino	1.9%	2.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Benton County	Vernon County
No high school diploma	10.9%	11.8%
High school graduate	43.2%	38.8%
Some college or associate's	30.7%	31.4%
Bachelor's degree	8.2%	11.1%
Graduate or professional degree	6.9%	6.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Benton County	Vernon County
Drove alone	79.8%	73.4%
Carpooled	10.9%	8.7%
Public transit	0.0%	0.1%
Walked	2.5%	2.7%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.9%
Worked from home	5.0%	11.6%
Other means	1.7%	2.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Benton County	Vernon County
1-unit, detached	72.4%	79.0%
1-unit, attached	0.6%	1.0%
2 to 4 units	2.2%	7.4%
5 to 19 units	1.5%	1.9%
20 or more units	0.3%	0.4%
Mobile home & other	23.0%	10.2%

Poverty & households

	Benton County	Vernon County
Poverty rate	16.7%	19.0%
Average household size	2.40	2.44
Mean commute (minutes)	31	20
Median year structure built	1984	1975