Polk County vs Rusk County

A side-by-side comparison of Polk County and Rusk County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Rusk County has the higher population (52,613 vs 51,780 in Polk County). Rusk County has the higher median household income ($67,506 vs $59,066 in Polk County). Rusk County has the higher median home value ($166,900 vs $154,000 in Polk County).

Population, income & housing

	Polk County	Rusk County
Population	51,780	52,613
Median age	43.9 yrs	38.8 yrs
Median household income	$59,066	$67,506
Median home value	$154,000	$166,900
Median gross rent	$1,009	$997
Housing units	25,677	21,258
Homeownership rate	77.5%	80.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	13.4%	17.9%
Unemployment rate	9.0%	3.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Polk County	Rusk County
Population	48,913 → 51,780 (+5.9%)	53,755 → 52,613 (-2.1%)
Median household income	$49,279 → $59,066 (+19.9%)	$55,234 → $67,506 (+22.2%)
Median home value	$110,200 → $154,000 (+39.7%)	$124,900 → $166,900 (+33.6%)
Median gross rent	$763 → $1,009 (+32.2%)	$763 → $997 (+30.7%)

Polk County

Population

48,91351,780

Median household income

$49,279$59,066

Median home value

$110,200$154,000

Median gross rent

$763$1,009

Rusk County

Population

53,75552,613

Median household income

$55,234$67,506

Median home value

$124,900$166,900

Median gross rent

$763$997

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Polk County	Rusk County
Under 5	5.1%	5.5%
5 to 17	15.3%	17.2%
18 to 24	7.4%	8.4%
25 to 34	11.2%	13.4%
35 to 44	12.2%	13.4%
45 to 54	12.7%	12.3%
55 to 64	17.1%	12.7%
65 to 74	13.7%	10.5%
75 and over	5.2%	6.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Polk County	Rusk County
White (non-Hispanic)	71.4%	61.9%
Black or African American	7.8%	13.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	1.0%	0.2%
Asian	0.6%	0.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.1%	0.0%
Two or more races	4.0%	5.7%
Hispanic or Latino	15.1%	18.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Polk County	Rusk County
No high school diploma	18.2%	15.1%
High school graduate	38.6%	32.8%
Some college or associate's	29.8%	34.2%
Bachelor's degree	9.1%	11.5%
Graduate or professional degree	4.3%	6.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Polk County	Rusk County
Drove alone	81.2%	83.7%
Carpooled	9.0%	9.4%
Public transit	0.1%	0.1%
Walked	1.5%	0.9%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.3%
Worked from home	5.4%	4.6%
Other means	2.8%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Polk County	Rusk County
1-unit, detached	68.2%	74.8%
1-unit, attached	0.6%	0.6%
2 to 4 units	3.3%	4.0%
5 to 19 units	1.4%	1.4%
20 or more units	0.7%	0.7%
Mobile home & other	25.9%	18.6%

Poverty & households

	Polk County	Rusk County
Poverty rate	18.1%	14.3%
Average household size	2.59	2.64
Mean commute (minutes)	30	26
Median year structure built	1989	1980