Fayette County vs Preston County

A side-by-side comparison of Fayette County and Preston County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Fayette County has the higher population (39,987 vs 34,204 in Preston County). Preston County has the higher median household income ($61,373 vs $52,672 in Fayette County). Preston County has the higher median home value ($157,700 vs $104,200 in Fayette County).

Population, income & housing

	Fayette County	Preston County
Population	39,987	34,204
Median age	44.5 yrs	43.2 yrs
Median household income	$52,672	$61,373
Median home value	$104,200	$157,700
Median gross rent	$777	$753
Housing units	19,134	15,215
Homeownership rate	75.7%	80.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	16.1%	17.9%
Unemployment rate	7.1%	6.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Fayette County	Preston County
Population	43,576 → 39,987 (-8.2%)	33,683 → 34,204 (+1.5%)
Median household income	$41,394 → $52,672 (+27.2%)	$51,888 → $61,373 (+18.3%)
Median home value	$91,300 → $104,200 (+14.1%)	$115,300 → $157,700 (+36.8%)
Median gross rent	$639 → $777 (+21.6%)	$666 → $753 (+13.1%)

Fayette County

Population

43,57639,987

Median household income

$41,394$52,672

Median home value

$91,300$104,200

Median gross rent

$639$777

Preston County

Population

33,68334,204

Median household income

$51,888$61,373

Median home value

$115,300$157,700

Median gross rent

$666$753

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Fayette County	Preston County
Under 5	4.8%	4.6%
5 to 17	15.8%	13.3%
18 to 24	6.7%	6.6%
25 to 34	10.8%	14.6%
35 to 44	12.3%	13.8%
45 to 54	13.2%	13.4%
55 to 64	14.1%	13.7%
65 to 74	13.5%	12.4%
75 and over	8.8%	7.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Fayette County	Preston County
White (non-Hispanic)	91.7%	89.3%
Black or African American	4.5%	6.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.2%
Asian	0.0%	0.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.0%
Two or more races	2.2%	1.8%
Hispanic or Latino	1.3%	1.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Fayette County	Preston County
No high school diploma	13.9%	14.2%
High school graduate	45.0%	45.7%
Some college or associate's	25.0%	22.2%
Bachelor's degree	11.1%	11.6%
Graduate or professional degree	5.0%	6.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Fayette County	Preston County
Drove alone	77.8%	75.8%
Carpooled	11.7%	14.9%
Public transit	0.1%	0.1%
Walked	2.8%	1.7%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.1%	7.2%
Other means	1.5%	0.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Fayette County	Preston County
1-unit, detached	76.9%	74.9%
1-unit, attached	0.7%	1.0%
2 to 4 units	2.8%	3.1%
5 to 19 units	2.6%	3.5%
20 or more units	1.9%	0.9%
Mobile home & other	15.1%	16.5%

Poverty & households

	Fayette County	Preston County
Poverty rate	18.8%	14.1%
Average household size	2.40	2.39
Mean commute (minutes)	30	31
Median year structure built	1972	1982