Mercer County vs Putnam County

A side-by-side comparison of Mercer County and Putnam County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Mercer County has the higher population (59,062 vs 57,250 in Putnam County). Putnam County has the higher median household income ($77,871 vs $47,799 in Mercer County). Putnam County has the higher median home value ($214,200 vs $118,600 in Mercer County).

Population, income & housing

	Mercer County	Putnam County
Population	59,062	57,250
Median age	43.3 yrs	42.3 yrs
Median household income	$47,799	$77,871
Median home value	$118,600	$214,200
Median gross rent	$813	$975
Housing units	29,358	24,891
Homeownership rate	69.7%	82.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.7%	28.4%
Unemployment rate	4.0%	3.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Mercer County	Putnam County
Population	59,919 → 59,062 (-1.4%)	56,610 → 57,250 (+1.1%)
Median household income	$40,784 → $47,799 (+17.2%)	$60,097 → $77,871 (+29.6%)
Median home value	$96,700 → $118,600 (+22.6%)	$167,300 → $214,200 (+28.0%)
Median gross rent	$672 → $813 (+21.0%)	$831 → $975 (+17.3%)

Mercer County

Population

59,91959,062

Median household income

$40,784$47,799

Median home value

$96,700$118,600

Median gross rent

$672$813

Putnam County

Population

56,61057,250

Median household income

$60,097$77,871

Median home value

$167,300$214,200

Median gross rent

$831$975

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Mercer County	Putnam County
Under 5	5.3%	4.7%
5 to 17	15.7%	17.1%
18 to 24	8.3%	7.3%
25 to 34	11.5%	11.1%
35 to 44	11.2%	13.1%
45 to 54	12.4%	13.7%
55 to 64	13.1%	13.8%
65 to 74	13.2%	11.6%
75 and over	9.4%	7.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Mercer County	Putnam County
White (non-Hispanic)	88.9%	94.0%
Black or African American	4.2%	0.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.3%	0.0%
Asian	0.3%	0.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.3%
Two or more races	4.7%	2.6%
Hispanic or Latino	1.3%	1.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Mercer County	Putnam County
No high school diploma	13.4%	6.9%
High school graduate	39.5%	36.1%
Some college or associate's	26.5%	28.6%
Bachelor's degree	13.6%	16.8%
Graduate or professional degree	7.1%	11.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Mercer County	Putnam County
Drove alone	82.7%	81.7%
Carpooled	6.8%	8.0%
Public transit	0.6%	0.1%
Walked	2.2%	0.8%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.4%	8.9%
Other means	1.4%	0.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Mercer County	Putnam County
1-unit, detached	66.7%	74.5%
1-unit, attached	1.7%	2.1%
2 to 4 units	3.0%	3.2%
5 to 19 units	6.3%	4.1%
20 or more units	2.2%	2.1%
Mobile home & other	20.2%	13.9%

Poverty & households

	Mercer County	Putnam County
Poverty rate	18.0%	10.7%
Average household size	2.36	2.50
Mean commute (minutes)	24	27
Median year structure built	1974	1988