Brazos County vs Hays County

A side-by-side comparison of Brazos County and Hays County: population, income, housing, and more.

Brazos County and Hays County are counties in Texas. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Hays County has the higher population (256,429 vs 237,980 in Brazos County). Hays County has the higher median household income ($85,827 vs $58,388 in Brazos County). Hays County has the higher median home value ($371,400 vs $279,700 in Brazos County).

Population, income & housing

	Brazos County	Hays County
Population	237,980	256,429
Median age	26.8 yrs	33.9 yrs
Median household income	$58,388	$85,827
Median home value	$279,700	$371,400
Median gross rent	$1,160	$1,417
Housing units	99,118	99,775
Homeownership rate	46.8%	64.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	42.5%	41.9%
Unemployment rate	4.6%	4.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Brazos County	Hays County
Population	222,981 → 237,980 (+6.7%)	213,366 → 256,429 (+20.2%)
Median household income	$49,181 → $58,388 (+18.7%)	$68,717 → $85,827 (+24.9%)
Median home value	$201,800 → $279,700 (+38.6%)	$238,700 → $371,400 (+55.6%)
Median gross rent	$948 → $1,160 (+22.4%)	$1,154 → $1,417 (+22.8%)

Brazos County

Population

222,981237,980

Median household income

$49,181$58,388

Median home value

$201,800$279,700

Median gross rent

$948$1,160

Hays County

Population

213,366256,429

Median household income

$68,717$85,827

Median home value

$238,700$371,400

Median gross rent

$1,154$1,417

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Brazos County	Hays County
Under 5	5.6%	5.8%
5 to 17	14.7%	16.8%
18 to 24	26.6%	15.3%
25 to 34	14.6%	13.8%
35 to 44	11.6%	14.8%
45 to 54	8.9%	11.4%
55 to 64	8.2%	10.2%
65 to 74	6.0%	7.8%
75 and over	3.8%	4.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Brazos County	Hays County
White (non-Hispanic)	53.5%	51.3%
Black or African American	10.3%	3.8%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	5.6%	1.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.9%
Two or more races	2.9%	2.9%
Hispanic or Latino	27.1%	39.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Brazos County	Hays County
No high school diploma	11.0%	8.5%
High school graduate	21.4%	21.2%
Some college or associate's	25.0%	28.4%
Bachelor's degree	23.6%	27.1%
Graduate or professional degree	18.9%	14.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Brazos County	Hays County
Drove alone	75.0%	71.8%
Carpooled	9.2%	8.2%
Public transit	1.5%	0.5%
Walked	2.4%	1.7%
Bicycle	1.2%	0.3%
Worked from home	9.6%	16.2%
Other means	1.2%	1.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Brazos County	Hays County
1-unit, detached	50.5%	64.7%
1-unit, attached	5.2%	2.4%
2 to 4 units	13.0%	4.5%
5 to 19 units	13.5%	9.4%
20 or more units	11.9%	11.8%
Mobile home & other	5.8%	7.3%

Poverty & households

	Brazos County	Hays County
Poverty rate	23.9%	12.0%
Average household size	2.49	2.63
Mean commute (minutes)	18	31
Median year structure built	1996	2005