Athens County vs Washington County

A side-by-side comparison of Athens County and Washington County: population, income, housing, and more.

Athens County and Washington County are counties in Ohio. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Athens County has the higher population (61,573 vs 59,318 in Washington County). Washington County has the higher median household income ($61,355 vs $53,837 in Athens County). Washington County has the higher median home value ($174,100 vs $173,800 in Athens County).

Population, income & housing

	Athens County	Washington County
Population	61,573	59,318
Median age	32.8 yrs	44.1 yrs
Median household income	$53,837	$61,355
Median home value	$173,800	$174,100
Median gross rent	$903	$828
Housing units	26,466	27,979
Homeownership rate	61.9%	74.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	35.4%	20.7%
Unemployment rate	5.8%	4.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Athens County	Washington County
Population	65,917 → 61,573 (-6.6%)	60,426 → 59,318 (-1.8%)
Median household income	$40,905 → $53,837 (+31.6%)	$50,021 → $61,355 (+22.7%)
Median home value	$129,600 → $173,800 (+34.1%)	$132,400 → $174,100 (+31.5%)
Median gross rent	$791 → $903 (+14.2%)	$668 → $828 (+24.0%)

Athens County

Population

65,91761,573

Median household income

$40,905$53,837

Median home value

$129,600$173,800

Median gross rent

$791$903

Washington County

Population

60,42659,318

Median household income

$50,021$61,355

Median home value

$132,400$174,100

Median gross rent

$668$828

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Athens County	Washington County
Under 5	3.7%	4.8%
5 to 17	11.1%	15.1%
18 to 24	26.1%	8.3%
25 to 34	12.0%	11.4%
35 to 44	10.7%	11.3%
45 to 54	10.1%	12.4%
55 to 64	11.6%	15.0%
65 to 74	9.4%	12.6%
75 and over	5.3%	9.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Athens County	Washington County
White (non-Hispanic)	89.2%	93.8%
Black or African American	2.5%	1.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.2%
Asian	2.1%	0.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.8%	2.7%
Hispanic or Latino	2.2%	1.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Athens County	Washington County
No high school diploma	8.2%	7.1%
High school graduate	29.8%	37.0%
Some college or associate's	26.6%	35.2%
Bachelor's degree	16.6%	13.3%
Graduate or professional degree	18.8%	7.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Athens County	Washington County
Drove alone	67.1%	80.8%
Carpooled	7.2%	7.7%
Public transit	0.8%	0.5%
Walked	11.7%	2.2%
Bicycle	0.9%	0.2%
Worked from home	11.7%	8.0%
Other means	0.7%	0.5%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Athens County	Washington County
1-unit, detached	60.0%	77.6%
1-unit, attached	2.8%	0.8%
2 to 4 units	10.2%	6.6%
5 to 19 units	6.0%	2.9%
20 or more units	7.6%	2.6%
Mobile home & other	13.4%	9.5%

Poverty & households

	Athens County	Washington County
Poverty rate	22.1%	12.9%
Average household size	2.37	2.33
Mean commute (minutes)	23	23
Median year structure built	1978	1973