Alleghany County vs Nelson County

A side-by-side comparison of Alleghany County and Nelson County: population, income, housing, and more.

Alleghany County and Nelson County are counties in Virginia. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Alleghany County has the higher population (14,962 vs 14,777 in Nelson County). Nelson County has the higher median household income ($68,525 vs $55,160 in Alleghany County). Nelson County has the higher median home value ($283,000 vs $122,300 in Alleghany County).

Population, income & housing

	Alleghany County	Nelson County
Population	14,962	14,777
Median age	48.1 yrs	51.3 yrs
Median household income	$55,160	$68,525
Median home value	$122,300	$283,000
Median gross rent	$774	$950
Housing units	7,916	9,947
Homeownership rate	80.6%	79.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.6%	33.7%
Unemployment rate	2.5%	3.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Alleghany County	Nelson County
Population	15,157 → 14,962 (-1.3%)	14,831 → 14,777 (-0.4%)
Median household income	$47,673 → $55,160 (+15.7%)	$64,313 → $68,525 (+6.5%)
Median home value	$119,700 → $122,300 (+2.2%)	$235,000 → $283,000 (+20.4%)
Median gross rent	$653 → $774 (+18.5%)	$759 → $950 (+25.2%)

Alleghany County

Population

15,15714,962

Median household income

$47,673$55,160

Median home value

$119,700$122,300

Median gross rent

$653$774

Nelson County

Population

14,83114,777

Median household income

$64,313$68,525

Median home value

$235,000$283,000

Median gross rent

$759$950

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Alleghany County	Nelson County
Under 5	4.1%	5.5%
5 to 17	14.2%	12.2%
18 to 24	7.3%	7.0%
25 to 34	10.9%	9.4%
35 to 44	9.6%	9.5%
45 to 54	12.3%	10.8%
55 to 64	15.8%	16.4%
65 to 74	14.5%	18.4%
75 and over	11.3%	10.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Alleghany County	Nelson County
White (non-Hispanic)	91.4%	79.9%
Black or African American	5.5%	10.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.1%
Asian	0.1%	1.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.4%
Two or more races	1.5%	3.0%
Hispanic or Latino	1.5%	4.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Alleghany County	Nelson County
No high school diploma	9.9%	11.3%
High school graduate	44.5%	30.2%
Some college or associate's	30.0%	24.8%
Bachelor's degree	8.8%	22.1%
Graduate or professional degree	6.8%	11.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Alleghany County	Nelson County
Drove alone	87.0%	63.6%
Carpooled	7.9%	9.6%
Public transit	0.0%	0.2%
Walked	0.2%	2.6%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.2%
Worked from home	4.0%	22.7%
Other means	0.9%	1.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Alleghany County	Nelson County
1-unit, detached	77.2%	77.8%
1-unit, attached	0.2%	0.8%
2 to 4 units	1.7%	2.3%
5 to 19 units	4.6%	9.3%
20 or more units	3.9%	0.3%
Mobile home & other	12.5%	9.5%

Poverty & households

	Alleghany County	Nelson County
Poverty rate	13.1%	14.4%
Average household size	2.32	2.27
Mean commute (minutes)	25	30
Median year structure built	1969	1987