Jefferson County vs Oswego County

A side-by-side comparison of Jefferson County and Oswego County: population, income, housing, and more.

Jefferson County and Oswego County are counties in New York. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Oswego County has the higher population (117,945 vs 116,130 in Jefferson County). Oswego County has the higher median household income ($68,461 vs $64,978 in Jefferson County). Jefferson County has the higher median home value ($181,000 vs $139,600 in Oswego County).

Population, income & housing

	Jefferson County	Oswego County
Population	116,130	117,945
Median age	33.2 yrs	40.6 yrs
Median household income	$64,978	$68,461
Median home value	$181,000	$139,600
Median gross rent	$1,214	$943
Housing units	61,721	54,697
Homeownership rate	54.1%	73.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	25.7%	21.9%
Unemployment rate	6.4%	6.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Jefferson County	Oswego County
Population	112,842 → 116,130 (+2.9%)	118,339 → 117,945 (-0.3%)
Median household income	$52,685 → $64,978 (+23.3%)	$55,967 → $68,461 (+22.3%)
Median home value	$149,900 → $181,000 (+20.7%)	$104,600 → $139,600 (+33.5%)
Median gross rent	$987 → $1,214 (+23.0%)	$777 → $943 (+21.4%)

Jefferson County

Population

112,842116,130

Median household income

$52,685$64,978

Median home value

$149,900$181,000

Median gross rent

$987$1,214

Oswego County

Population

118,339117,945

Median household income

$55,967$68,461

Median home value

$104,600$139,600

Median gross rent

$777$943

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Jefferson County	Oswego County
Under 5	7.4%	5.3%
5 to 17	16.6%	15.5%
18 to 24	11.8%	11.2%
25 to 34	16.7%	11.8%
35 to 44	12.1%	11.4%
45 to 54	9.7%	12.2%
55 to 64	11.1%	15.2%
65 to 74	8.7%	10.8%
75 and over	5.9%	6.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Jefferson County	Oswego County
White (non-Hispanic)	80.8%	91.6%
Black or African American	4.6%	1.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	1.8%	0.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.2%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.3%
Two or more races	4.9%	3.0%
Hispanic or Latino	7.3%	3.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Jefferson County	Oswego County
No high school diploma	8.7%	10.0%
High school graduate	32.1%	36.7%
Some college or associate's	33.5%	31.4%
Bachelor's degree	15.2%	13.4%
Graduate or professional degree	10.5%	8.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Jefferson County	Oswego County
Drove alone	77.4%	78.8%
Carpooled	8.3%	7.5%
Public transit	0.5%	0.6%
Walked	4.5%	3.1%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.0%
Worked from home	7.4%	7.8%
Other means	1.7%	2.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Jefferson County	Oswego County
1-unit, detached	56.3%	69.0%
1-unit, attached	6.8%	1.8%
2 to 4 units	15.2%	9.7%
5 to 19 units	5.7%	4.2%
20 or more units	4.6%	2.9%
Mobile home & other	11.4%	12.4%

Poverty & households

	Jefferson County	Oswego County
Poverty rate	13.4%	16.5%
Average household size	2.38	2.40
Mean commute (minutes)	20	25
Median year structure built	1972	1971