Sullivan County vs Wilson County

A side-by-side comparison of Sullivan County and Wilson County: population, income, housing, and more.

Sullivan County and Wilson County are counties in Tennessee. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Sullivan County has the higher population (159,693 vs 153,587 in Wilson County). Wilson County has the higher median household income ($94,048 vs $56,802 in Sullivan County). Wilson County has the higher median home value ($397,000 vs $190,800 in Sullivan County).

Population, income & housing

	Sullivan County	Wilson County
Population	159,693	153,587
Median age	45.0 yrs	39.9 yrs
Median household income	$56,802	$94,048
Median home value	$190,800	$397,000
Median gross rent	$850	$1,370
Housing units	75,917	60,976
Homeownership rate	72.9%	76.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	26.6%	37.2%
Unemployment rate	6.0%	3.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Sullivan County	Wilson County
Population	157,050 → 159,693 (+1.7%)	136,666 → 153,587 (+12.4%)
Median household income	$46,684 → $56,802 (+21.7%)	$75,991 → $94,048 (+23.8%)
Median home value	$141,300 → $190,800 (+35.0%)	$264,600 → $397,000 (+50.0%)
Median gross rent	$668 → $850 (+27.2%)	$1,065 → $1,370 (+28.6%)

Sullivan County

Population

157,050159,693

Median household income

$46,684$56,802

Median home value

$141,300$190,800

Median gross rent

$668$850

Wilson County

Population

136,666153,587

Median household income

$75,991$94,048

Median home value

$264,600$397,000

Median gross rent

$1,065$1,370

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Sullivan County	Wilson County
Under 5	4.8%	5.9%
5 to 17	14.4%	17.6%
18 to 24	7.5%	7.6%
25 to 34	12.1%	12.1%
35 to 44	11.2%	14.2%
45 to 54	13.6%	13.7%
55 to 64	14.4%	13.2%
65 to 74	12.6%	9.7%
75 and over	9.4%	6.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Sullivan County	Wilson County
White (non-Hispanic)	92.1%	80.5%
Black or African American	2.0%	7.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	0.8%	2.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	1.1%
Two or more races	2.3%	3.3%
Hispanic or Latino	2.4%	6.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Sullivan County	Wilson County
No high school diploma	10.4%	6.5%
High school graduate	32.6%	28.8%
Some college or associate's	30.4%	27.5%
Bachelor's degree	17.7%	24.9%
Graduate or professional degree	8.9%	12.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Sullivan County	Wilson County
Drove alone	81.7%	76.2%
Carpooled	6.8%	6.8%
Public transit	0.1%	0.5%
Walked	1.0%	0.5%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	9.1%	14.7%
Other means	1.4%	1.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Sullivan County	Wilson County
1-unit, detached	70.1%	76.0%
1-unit, attached	2.4%	4.6%
2 to 4 units	6.3%	3.8%
5 to 19 units	7.7%	5.9%
20 or more units	2.6%	4.1%
Mobile home & other	10.8%	5.6%

Poverty & households

	Sullivan County	Wilson County
Poverty rate	14.9%	7.6%
Average household size	2.30	2.68
Mean commute (minutes)	22	30
Median year structure built	1976	1998