Kanawha County vs Monongalia County

A side-by-side comparison of Kanawha County and Monongalia County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Kanawha County has the higher population (178,198 vs 106,520 in Monongalia County). Monongalia County has the higher median household income ($62,704 vs $58,887 in Kanawha County). Monongalia County has the higher median home value ($254,200 vs $135,000 in Kanawha County).

Population, income & housing

	Kanawha County	Monongalia County
Population	178,198	106,520
Median age	43.7 yrs	32.5 yrs
Median household income	$58,887	$62,704
Median home value	$135,000	$254,200
Median gross rent	$879	$943
Housing units	90,388	49,795
Homeownership rate	70.2%	57.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	29.3%	47.9%
Unemployment rate	5.5%	5.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Kanawha County	Monongalia County
Population	183,279 → 178,198 (-2.8%)	105,474 → 106,520 (+1.0%)
Median household income	$46,639 → $58,887 (+26.3%)	$52,455 → $62,704 (+19.5%)
Median home value	$112,500 → $135,000 (+20.0%)	$204,400 → $254,200 (+24.4%)
Median gross rent	$747 → $879 (+17.7%)	$834 → $943 (+13.1%)

Kanawha County

Population

183,279178,198

Median household income

$46,639$58,887

Median home value

$112,500$135,000

Median gross rent

$747$879

Monongalia County

Population

105,474106,520

Median household income

$52,455$62,704

Median home value

$204,400$254,200

Median gross rent

$834$943

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Kanawha County	Monongalia County
Under 5	5.0%	4.5%
5 to 17	15.0%	11.7%
18 to 24	7.5%	21.9%
25 to 34	12.3%	15.3%
35 to 44	12.0%	12.8%
45 to 54	12.4%	10.2%
55 to 64	14.1%	10.3%
65 to 74	13.1%	8.3%
75 and over	8.6%	4.9%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Kanawha County	Monongalia County
White (non-Hispanic)	86.2%	86.2%
Black or African American	6.1%	3.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	1.2%	3.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.7%
Two or more races	4.6%	3.0%
Hispanic or Latino	1.5%	3.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Kanawha County	Monongalia County
No high school diploma	9.3%	6.0%
High school graduate	36.2%	25.4%
Some college or associate's	25.3%	20.7%
Bachelor's degree	17.2%	21.9%
Graduate or professional degree	12.1%	26.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Kanawha County	Monongalia County
Drove alone	77.9%	72.2%
Carpooled	8.0%	8.1%
Public transit	1.7%	1.3%
Walked	2.8%	5.1%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.2%
Worked from home	8.3%	11.7%
Other means	1.1%	1.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Kanawha County	Monongalia County
1-unit, detached	69.2%	50.2%
1-unit, attached	2.2%	7.1%
2 to 4 units	7.7%	10.2%
5 to 19 units	5.7%	14.5%
20 or more units	5.2%	9.6%
Mobile home & other	10.1%	8.4%

Poverty & households

	Kanawha County	Monongalia County
Poverty rate	16.1%	20.5%
Average household size	2.28	2.26
Mean commute (minutes)	22	22
Median year structure built	1966	1988