Hardin County vs Van Wert County

A side-by-side comparison of Hardin County and Van Wert County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Hardin County has the higher population (30,527 vs 28,824 in Van Wert County). Van Wert County has the higher median household income ($65,344 vs $58,001 in Hardin County). Van Wert County has the higher median home value ($137,300 vs $134,800 in Hardin County).

Population, income & housing

	Hardin County	Van Wert County
Population	30,527	28,824
Median age	35.3 yrs	41.4 yrs
Median household income	$58,001	$65,344
Median home value	$134,800	$137,300
Median gross rent	$733	$792
Housing units	12,921	12,574
Homeownership rate	73.3%	80.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.9%	17.0%
Unemployment rate	4.1%	3.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Hardin County	Van Wert County
Population	31,425 → 30,527 (-2.9%)	28,261 → 28,824 (+2.0%)
Median household income	$50,506 → $58,001 (+14.8%)	$54,254 → $65,344 (+20.4%)
Median home value	$105,300 → $134,800 (+28.0%)	$104,900 → $137,300 (+30.9%)
Median gross rent	$666 → $733 (+10.1%)	$712 → $792 (+11.2%)

Hardin County

Population

31,42530,527

Median household income

$50,506$58,001

Median home value

$105,300$134,800

Median gross rent

$666$733

Van Wert County

Population

28,26128,824

Median household income

$54,254$65,344

Median home value

$104,900$137,300

Median gross rent

$712$792

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Hardin County	Van Wert County
Under 5	5.9%	6.1%
5 to 17	17.3%	17.0%
18 to 24	15.9%	7.6%
25 to 34	10.6%	11.9%
35 to 44	10.5%	11.9%
45 to 54	11.4%	12.0%
55 to 64	12.2%	13.8%
65 to 74	9.8%	11.3%
75 and over	6.3%	8.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Hardin County	Van Wert County
White (non-Hispanic)	93.0%	92.4%
Black or African American	1.1%	0.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	0.8%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.1%
Two or more races	2.4%	2.5%
Hispanic or Latino	2.3%	3.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Hardin County	Van Wert County
No high school diploma	8.3%	6.4%
High school graduate	47.4%	44.5%
Some college or associate's	25.5%	32.0%
Bachelor's degree	12.5%	10.6%
Graduate or professional degree	6.4%	6.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Hardin County	Van Wert County
Drove alone	81.5%	84.5%
Carpooled	7.2%	8.4%
Public transit	0.0%	0.1%
Walked	5.1%	1.9%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.3%
Worked from home	5.0%	3.8%
Other means	1.1%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Hardin County	Van Wert County
1-unit, detached	75.1%	87.1%
1-unit, attached	0.8%	1.0%
2 to 4 units	6.0%	4.8%
5 to 19 units	5.5%	1.7%
20 or more units	1.2%	1.2%
Mobile home & other	11.4%	4.2%

Poverty & households

	Hardin County	Van Wert County
Poverty rate	18.2%	9.5%
Average household size	2.44	2.45
Mean commute (minutes)	24	20
Median year structure built	1969	1960