Dickenson County vs Nelson County

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

Dickenson 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.

Nelson County has the higher population (14,777 vs 13,920 in Dickenson County). Nelson County has the higher median household income ($68,525 vs $43,831 in Dickenson County). Nelson County has the higher median home value ($283,000 vs $101,100 in Dickenson County).

Population, income & housing

	Dickenson County	Nelson County
Population	13,920	14,777
Median age	45.9 yrs	51.3 yrs
Median household income	$43,831	$68,525
Median home value	$101,100	$283,000
Median gross rent	$733	$950
Housing units	7,352	9,947
Homeownership rate	74.6%	79.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	10.7%	33.7%
Unemployment rate	2.7%	3.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Dickenson County	Nelson County
Population	14,756 → 13,920 (-5.7%)	14,831 → 14,777 (-0.4%)
Median household income	$29,932 → $43,831 (+46.4%)	$64,313 → $68,525 (+6.5%)
Median home value	$81,000 → $101,100 (+24.8%)	$235,000 → $283,000 (+20.4%)
Median gross rent	$592 → $733 (+23.8%)	$759 → $950 (+25.2%)

Dickenson County

Population

14,75613,920

Median household income

$29,932$43,831

Median home value

$81,000$101,100

Median gross rent

$592$733

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)

	Dickenson County	Nelson County
Under 5	4.5%	5.5%
5 to 17	14.8%	12.2%
18 to 24	6.4%	7.0%
25 to 34	10.6%	9.4%
35 to 44	12.3%	9.5%
45 to 54	12.9%	10.8%
55 to 64	14.4%	16.4%
65 to 74	13.9%	18.4%
75 and over	10.3%	10.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Dickenson County	Nelson County
White (non-Hispanic)	97.6%	79.9%
Black or African American	1.0%	10.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	0.2%	1.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.4%
Two or more races	0.3%	3.0%
Hispanic or Latino	0.7%	4.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Dickenson County	Nelson County
No high school diploma	18.4%	11.3%
High school graduate	42.9%	30.2%
Some college or associate's	28.0%	24.8%
Bachelor's degree	8.8%	22.1%
Graduate or professional degree	1.9%	11.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Dickenson County	Nelson County
Drove alone	77.7%	63.6%
Carpooled	13.7%	9.6%
Public transit	0.3%	0.2%
Walked	0.2%	2.6%
Bicycle	0.2%	0.2%
Worked from home	6.8%	22.7%
Other means	1.1%	1.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Dickenson County	Nelson County
1-unit, detached	68.1%	77.8%
1-unit, attached	0.6%	0.8%
2 to 4 units	0.9%	2.3%
5 to 19 units	1.7%	9.3%
20 or more units	0.3%	0.3%
Mobile home & other	28.3%	9.5%

Poverty & households

	Dickenson County	Nelson County
Poverty rate	20.2%	14.4%
Average household size	2.35	2.27
Mean commute (minutes)	29	30
Median year structure built	1981	1987