Braxton County vs Wetzel County

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

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

Wetzel County has the higher population (14,233 vs 12,345 in Braxton County). Wetzel County has the higher median household income ($53,341 vs $44,449 in Braxton County). Braxton County has the higher median home value ($106,400 vs $102,800 in Wetzel County).

Population, income & housing

	Braxton County	Wetzel County
Population	12,345	14,233
Median age	46.7 yrs	45.6 yrs
Median household income	$44,449	$53,341
Median home value	$106,400	$102,800
Median gross rent	$578	$703
Housing units	6,278	7,302
Homeownership rate	79.3%	82.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	11.9%	13.5%
Unemployment rate	12.8%	5.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Braxton County	Wetzel County
Population	14,190 → 12,345 (-13.0%)	15,436 → 14,233 (-7.8%)
Median household income	$41,466 → $44,449 (+7.2%)	$43,107 → $53,341 (+23.7%)
Median home value	$86,400 → $106,400 (+23.1%)	$103,600 → $102,800 (-0.8%)
Median gross rent	$593 → $578 (-2.5%)	$703 → $703 (+0.0%)

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

Wetzel County

Population

15,43614,233

Median household income

$43,107$53,341

Median home value

$103,600$102,800

Median gross rent

$703$703

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Braxton County	Wetzel County
Under 5	4.2%	5.8%
5 to 17	14.5%	15.6%
18 to 24	6.7%	7.3%
25 to 34	11.7%	10.7%
35 to 44	10.6%	10.3%
45 to 54	13.1%	12.7%
55 to 64	14.8%	14.9%
65 to 74	14.2%	12.6%
75 and over	10.2%	10.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Braxton County	Wetzel County
White (non-Hispanic)	87.0%	94.1%
Black or African American	0.9%	0.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.0%
Asian	0.1%	0.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.4%
Two or more races	10.9%	3.1%
Hispanic or Latino	0.8%	1.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Braxton County	Wetzel County
No high school diploma	16.3%	10.1%
High school graduate	51.1%	48.6%
Some college or associate's	20.7%	27.8%
Bachelor's degree	8.8%	8.4%
Graduate or professional degree	3.1%	5.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Braxton County	Wetzel County
Drove alone	76.7%	82.9%
Carpooled	9.0%	7.7%
Public transit	0.0%	0.1%
Walked	2.6%	3.9%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.3%	2.4%
Other means	5.5%	3.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Braxton County	Wetzel County
1-unit, detached	69.0%	74.6%
1-unit, attached	0.3%	0.5%
2 to 4 units	2.8%	4.4%
5 to 19 units	1.7%	2.0%
20 or more units	0.5%	2.0%
Mobile home & other	25.7%	16.6%

Poverty & households

	Braxton County	Wetzel County
Poverty rate	18.8%	16.6%
Average household size	2.51	2.37
Mean commute (minutes)	33	30
Median year structure built	1977	1963