Essex County vs Sussex County

A side-by-side comparison of Essex County and Sussex County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Sussex County has the higher population (10,793 vs 10,604 in Essex County). Sussex County has the higher median household income ($62,821 vs $56,481 in Essex County). Essex County has the higher median home value ($228,600 vs $178,500 in Sussex County).

Population, income & housing

	Essex County	Sussex County
Population	10,604	10,793
Median age	47.1 yrs	41.0 yrs
Median household income	$56,481	$62,821
Median home value	$228,600	$178,500
Median gross rent	$967	$952
Housing units	5,785	4,672
Homeownership rate	68.9%	69.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.5%	15.8%
Unemployment rate	6.3%	4.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Essex County	Sussex County
Population	10,998 → 10,604 (-3.6%)	11,377 → 10,793 (-5.1%)
Median household income	$51,954 → $56,481 (+8.7%)	$49,487 → $62,821 (+26.9%)
Median home value	$202,800 → $228,600 (+12.7%)	$125,800 → $178,500 (+41.9%)
Median gross rent	$885 → $967 (+9.3%)	$807 → $952 (+18.0%)

Essex County

Population

10,99810,604

Median household income

$51,954$56,481

Median home value

$202,800$228,600

Median gross rent

$885$967

Sussex County

Population

11,37710,793

Median household income

$49,487$62,821

Median home value

$125,800$178,500

Median gross rent

$807$952

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Essex County	Sussex County
Under 5	4.8%	4.1%
5 to 17	13.1%	11.6%
18 to 24	9.1%	7.7%
25 to 34	8.8%	17.8%
35 to 44	11.0%	13.8%
45 to 54	13.1%	11.9%
55 to 64	16.4%	13.9%
65 to 74	14.4%	11.3%
75 and over	9.2%	7.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Essex County	Sussex County
White (non-Hispanic)	53.8%	40.3%
Black or African American	37.4%	54.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	0.5%	0.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.0%
Two or more races	3.7%	2.9%
Hispanic or Latino	4.3%	1.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Essex County	Sussex County
No high school diploma	14.3%	15.4%
High school graduate	39.5%	40.2%
Some college or associate's	28.8%	28.6%
Bachelor's degree	11.1%	9.8%
Graduate or professional degree	6.4%	6.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Essex County	Sussex County
Drove alone	75.4%	84.2%
Carpooled	8.3%	5.8%
Public transit	0.0%	0.6%
Walked	1.9%	0.9%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.4%
Worked from home	11.7%	8.1%
Other means	2.6%	0.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Essex County	Sussex County
1-unit, detached	73.1%	73.5%
1-unit, attached	2.8%	0.2%
2 to 4 units	2.3%	4.4%
5 to 19 units	5.6%	2.8%
20 or more units	2.5%	0.3%
Mobile home & other	13.6%	18.9%

Poverty & households

	Essex County	Sussex County
Poverty rate	15.5%	12.1%
Average household size	2.38	2.46
Mean commute (minutes)	36	36
Median year structure built	1981	1979