county

Nelson County, VA

Demographic and economic profile of Nelson County, VA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Nelson County is a small, rural Virginia county of 14,777 residents with a median age of 51.3 years and a labor force participation rate of 54.7%, reflecting its older demographic profile. About 33.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, median worker earnings stand at $42,223, and the unemployment rate is 3.3%. Housing costs remain relatively modest—median home value of $283,000 and median gross rent of $950/month—though the county posted marginal population decline of 0.2% over the past five years, and a 14.4% poverty rate sits alongside a median household income of $72,589.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

14,777

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$72,589

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

51.3 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-0.2% since 2018

Nelson County lost population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone11,975 (81.3%)
  • Black or African American Alone1,623 (11.0%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race422 (2.9%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races318 (2.2%)
  • Some Other Race Alone234 (1.6%)
  • Asian Alone132 (0.9%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish423
  2. 2.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)242
  3. 3.Other Indo-European75
  4. 4.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)30
  5. 5.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)15

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

17.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

53.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

29.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

4.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

1,104

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$37,025

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$45,251

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

3.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

14.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance1,466
  2. 2.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services726
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services676
  4. 4.Retail Trade (Group)618
  5. 5.Construction (Group)578

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations2,728
  2. 2.Service Occupations1,175
  3. 3.Sales & Office Occupations976
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations870
  5. 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations799

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 2.93×)309
  2. 2.Construction (LQ 1.65×)756
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.16×)673
  4. 4.Other Services (LQ 1.07×)333
  5. 5.Public Administration (LQ 1.00×)312

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$283,000

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$950/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

79.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,999723 (14.3%)
  • $400,000 to $499,999687 (13.6%)
  • $500,000 to $749,999670 (13.2%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999614 (12.1%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999373 (7.4%)
  • $175,000 to $199,999307 (6.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

33.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

88.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

54.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$42,223

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

30.3 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

6.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone4,299 (67.4%)
  • Worked At Home1,220 (19.1%)
  • Carpooled524 (8.2%)
  • Walked227 (3.6%)
  • Other89 (1.4%)
  • Bicycle9 (0.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.