Jefferson County vs Smith County

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

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

Jefferson County has the higher population (253,939 vs 238,014 in Smith County). Smith County has the higher median household income ($71,923 vs $59,934 in Jefferson County). Smith County has the higher median home value ($220,800 vs $159,600 in Jefferson County).

Population, income & housing

	Jefferson County	Smith County
Population	253,939	238,014
Median age	37.1 yrs	37.4 yrs
Median household income	$59,934	$71,923
Median home value	$159,600	$220,800
Median gross rent	$1,079	$1,197
Housing units	109,351	98,672
Homeownership rate	61.8%	69.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.4%	27.7%
Unemployment rate	5.5%	4.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Jefferson County	Smith County
Population	254,340 → 253,939 (-0.2%)	227,449 → 238,014 (+4.6%)
Median household income	$51,248 → $59,934 (+16.9%)	$56,810 → $71,923 (+26.6%)
Median home value	$112,800 → $159,600 (+41.5%)	$158,600 → $220,800 (+39.2%)
Median gross rent	$871 → $1,079 (+23.9%)	$941 → $1,197 (+27.2%)

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

Smith County

Population

227,449238,014

Median household income

$56,810$71,923

Median home value

$158,600$220,800

Median gross rent

$941$1,197

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Jefferson County	Smith County
Under 5	6.7%	6.3%
5 to 17	17.9%	18.0%
18 to 24	8.6%	9.5%
25 to 34	14.1%	13.4%
35 to 44	13.5%	12.4%
45 to 54	11.7%	11.3%
55 to 64	12.3%	11.9%
65 to 74	9.1%	10.0%
75 and over	6.1%	7.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Jefferson County	Smith County
White (non-Hispanic)	37.4%	58.0%
Black or African American	32.9%	16.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.1%
Asian	3.7%	1.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.1%
Some other race	0.2%	0.3%
Two or more races	2.0%	2.8%
Hispanic or Latino	23.5%	20.6%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Jefferson County	Smith County
No high school diploma	15.1%	12.0%
High school graduate	32.4%	24.9%
Some college or associate's	33.0%	35.4%
Bachelor's degree	13.3%	18.3%
Graduate or professional degree	6.2%	9.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Jefferson County	Smith County
Drove alone	86.7%	79.2%
Carpooled	7.5%	8.3%
Public transit	0.5%	0.3%
Walked	1.1%	1.3%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.2%
Worked from home	3.1%	8.9%
Other means	1.0%	1.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Jefferson County	Smith County
1-unit, detached	70.8%	68.8%
1-unit, attached	2.4%	2.6%
2 to 4 units	5.6%	5.2%
5 to 19 units	12.5%	8.1%
20 or more units	4.9%	4.1%
Mobile home & other	3.7%	11.1%

Poverty & households

	Jefferson County	Smith County
Poverty rate	18.8%	12.2%
Average household size	2.55	2.83
Mean commute (minutes)	21	23
Median year structure built	1976	1986