Braxton County vs Hardy County

A side-by-side comparison of Braxton County and Hardy County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Hardy County has the higher population (14,236 vs 12,345 in Braxton County). Hardy County has the higher median household income ($49,302 vs $44,449 in Braxton County). Hardy County has the higher median home value ($159,700 vs $106,400 in Braxton County).

Population, income & housing

	Braxton County	Hardy County
Population	12,345	14,236
Median age	46.7 yrs	47.3 yrs
Median household income	$44,449	$49,302
Median home value	$106,400	$159,700
Median gross rent	$578	$820
Housing units	6,278	8,217
Homeownership rate	79.3%	79.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher	11.9%	15.7%
Unemployment rate	12.8%	5.7%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Braxton County	Hardy County
Population	14,190 → 12,345 (-13.0%)	13,805 → 14,236 (+3.1%)
Median household income	$41,466 → $44,449 (+7.2%)	$47,438 → $49,302 (+3.9%)
Median home value	$86,400 → $106,400 (+23.1%)	$137,700 → $159,700 (+16.0%)
Median gross rent	$593 → $578 (-2.5%)	$755 → $820 (+8.6%)

Braxton County

Population

14,19012,345

Median household income

$41,466$44,449

Median home value

$86,400$106,400

Median gross rent

$593$578

Hardy County

Population

13,80514,236

Median household income

$47,438$49,302

Median home value

$137,700$159,700

Median gross rent

$755$820

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Braxton County	Hardy County
Under 5	4.2%	4.6%
5 to 17	14.5%	14.0%
18 to 24	6.7%	6.4%
25 to 34	11.7%	12.2%
35 to 44	10.6%	10.2%
45 to 54	13.1%	13.4%
55 to 64	14.8%	16.0%
65 to 74	14.2%	13.9%
75 and over	10.2%	9.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Braxton County	Hardy County
White (non-Hispanic)	87.0%	89.3%
Black or African American	0.9%	4.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.0%
Asian	0.1%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.3%
Two or more races	10.9%	1.3%
Hispanic or Latino	0.8%	4.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Braxton County	Hardy County
No high school diploma	16.3%	13.4%
High school graduate	51.1%	48.1%
Some college or associate's	20.7%	22.8%
Bachelor's degree	8.8%	8.5%
Graduate or professional degree	3.1%	7.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Braxton County	Hardy County
Drove alone	76.7%	77.5%
Carpooled	9.0%	11.2%
Public transit	0.0%	0.4%
Walked	2.6%	2.5%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.3%	7.3%
Other means	5.5%	1.1%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Braxton County	Hardy County
1-unit, detached	69.0%	79.6%
1-unit, attached	0.3%	0.5%
2 to 4 units	2.8%	1.8%
5 to 19 units	1.7%	1.4%
20 or more units	0.5%	0.5%
Mobile home & other	25.7%	16.1%

Poverty & households

	Braxton County	Hardy County
Poverty rate	18.8%	17.6%
Average household size	2.51	2.39
Mean commute (minutes)	33	29
Median year structure built	1977	1984