Jefferson County vs McLennan County

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

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

McLennan County has the higher population (263,608 vs 253,939 in Jefferson County). McLennan County has the higher median household income ($63,888 vs $59,934 in Jefferson County). McLennan County has the higher median home value ($219,200 vs $159,600 in Jefferson County).

Population, income & housing

	Jefferson County	McLennan County
Population	253,939	263,608
Median age	37.1 yrs	34.0 yrs
Median household income	$59,934	$63,888
Median home value	$159,600	$219,200
Median gross rent	$1,079	$1,106
Housing units	109,351	107,194
Homeownership rate	61.8%	61.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.4%	27.8%
Unemployment rate	5.5%	4.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Jefferson County	McLennan County
Population	254,340 → 253,939 (-0.2%)	251,089 → 263,608 (+5.0%)
Median household income	$51,248 → $59,934 (+16.9%)	$49,778 → $63,888 (+28.3%)
Median home value	$112,800 → $159,600 (+41.5%)	$142,800 → $219,200 (+53.5%)
Median gross rent	$871 → $1,079 (+23.9%)	$871 → $1,106 (+27.0%)

Jefferson County

Population

254,340253,939

Median household income

$51,248$59,934

Median home value

$112,800$159,600

Median gross rent

$871$1,079

McLennan County

Population

251,089263,608

Median household income

$49,778$63,888

Median home value

$142,800$219,200

Median gross rent

$871$1,106

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Jefferson County	McLennan County
Under 5	6.7%	6.4%
5 to 17	17.9%	17.7%
18 to 24	8.6%	14.3%
25 to 34	14.1%	13.0%
35 to 44	13.5%	11.9%
45 to 54	11.7%	10.5%
55 to 64	12.3%	11.0%
65 to 74	9.1%	8.8%
75 and over	6.1%	6.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Jefferson County	McLennan County
White (non-Hispanic)	37.4%	54.7%
Black or African American	32.9%	13.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.2%
Asian	3.7%	1.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.3%
Two or more races	2.0%	2.9%
Hispanic or Latino	23.5%	26.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Jefferson County	McLennan County
No high school diploma	15.1%	11.9%
High school graduate	32.4%	27.3%
Some college or associate's	33.0%	33.0%
Bachelor's degree	13.3%	16.8%
Graduate or professional degree	6.2%	11.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Jefferson County	McLennan County
Drove alone	86.7%	79.0%
Carpooled	7.5%	9.1%
Public transit	0.5%	0.4%
Walked	1.1%	1.9%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.2%
Worked from home	3.1%	8.6%
Other means	1.0%	0.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Jefferson County	McLennan County
1-unit, detached	70.8%	67.1%
1-unit, attached	2.4%	2.5%
2 to 4 units	5.6%	7.2%
5 to 19 units	12.5%	10.1%
20 or more units	4.9%	7.4%
Mobile home & other	3.7%	5.7%

Poverty & households

	Jefferson County	McLennan County
Poverty rate	18.8%	17.1%
Average household size	2.55	2.65
Mean commute (minutes)	21	21
Median year structure built	1976	1982