Nicholas County vs Upshur County

A side-by-side comparison of Nicholas County and Upshur County: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Nicholas County has the higher population (24,446 vs 23,758 in Upshur County). Upshur County has the higher median household income ($51,859 vs $49,280 in Nicholas County). Upshur County has the higher median home value ($160,700 vs $114,200 in Nicholas County).

Population, income & housing

	Nicholas County	Upshur County
Population	24,446	23,758
Median age	46.0 yrs	42.0 yrs
Median household income	$49,280	$51,859
Median home value	$114,200	$160,700
Median gross rent	$669	$799
Housing units	12,540	11,237
Homeownership rate	82.3%	79.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.0%	17.4%
Unemployment rate	8.6%	5.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Nicholas County	Upshur County
Population	25,078 → 24,446 (-2.5%)	24,502 → 23,758 (-3.0%)
Median household income	$40,086 → $49,280 (+22.9%)	$40,322 → $51,859 (+28.6%)
Median home value	$95,100 → $114,200 (+20.1%)	$119,000 → $160,700 (+35.0%)
Median gross rent	$601 → $669 (+11.3%)	$699 → $799 (+14.3%)

Nicholas County

Population

25,07824,446

Median household income

$40,086$49,280

Median home value

$95,100$114,200

Median gross rent

$601$669

Upshur County

Population

24,50223,758

Median household income

$40,322$51,859

Median home value

$119,000$160,700

Median gross rent

$699$799

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Nicholas County	Upshur County
Under 5	4.6%	5.1%
5 to 17	16.1%	15.7%
18 to 24	6.0%	10.3%
25 to 34	10.4%	10.8%
35 to 44	11.6%	11.1%
45 to 54	12.8%	11.8%
55 to 64	14.9%	13.9%
65 to 74	14.2%	12.6%
75 and over	9.4%	8.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Nicholas County	Upshur County
White (non-Hispanic)	96.5%	92.2%
Black or African American	0.3%	1.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.5%	0.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	1.0%
Two or more races	2.0%	3.8%
Hispanic or Latino	0.5%	1.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Nicholas County	Upshur County
No high school diploma	12.0%	11.6%
High school graduate	43.4%	51.5%
Some college or associate's	25.6%	19.5%
Bachelor's degree	10.4%	9.7%
Graduate or professional degree	8.6%	7.7%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Nicholas County	Upshur County
Drove alone	84.7%	80.9%
Carpooled	8.1%	3.3%
Public transit	1.3%	0.0%
Walked	1.0%	2.8%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.4%
Worked from home	3.8%	9.7%
Other means	1.0%	2.8%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Nicholas County	Upshur County
1-unit, detached	73.2%	71.1%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	0.4%
2 to 4 units	1.7%	1.8%
5 to 19 units	2.3%	1.8%
20 or more units	1.1%	1.6%
Mobile home & other	21.7%	23.3%

Poverty & households

	Nicholas County	Upshur County
Poverty rate	17.8%	18.3%
Average household size	2.53	2.34
Mean commute (minutes)	34	27
Median year structure built	1980	1979