county

Essex County, VA

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

AI Overview

Essex County is a small rural county of 10,604 residents with an older median age of 47.1 years and a relatively modest labor pool—labor force participation sits at just 50.4%, unemployment runs at 6.3%, and only 17.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Median worker earnings of $40,809 and median household income of $56,520 reflect a lower-cost workforce, with housing remaining affordable at a median home value of $228,600 and median gross rent of $967 per month. The county has seen a population decline of 3.9% over five years, and a mean commute time of 38.5 minutes suggests workers frequently travel outside the county for employment.

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

Population

10,604

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$56,520

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

47.1 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

-3.9% since 2018

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

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone5,819 (54.8%)
  • Black or African American Alone3,941 (37.1%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races308 (2.9%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race234 (2.2%)
  • Some Other Race Alone141 (1.3%)
  • Asian Alone107 (1.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish439
  2. 2.French (incl. Cajun, Haitian)179
  3. 3.Other Indo-European31
  4. 4.Other Asian and Pacific Island20
  5. 5.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)18

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

18.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

58.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

23.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

4.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

635

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$39,266

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$32,839

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

6.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

15.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance930
  2. 2.Manufacturing (Group)665
  3. 3.Retail Trade (Group)613
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services407
  5. 5.Construction (Group)273

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations1,500
  2. 2.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations816
  3. 3.Service Occupations749
  4. 4.Sales & Office Occupations665
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations556

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.49×)100
  2. 2.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.43×)353
  3. 3.Manufacturing (LQ 1.32×)551
  4. 4.Retail Trade (LQ 1.31×)600
  5. 5.Public Administration (LQ 1.21×)240

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$228,600

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$967/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

71.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,999556 (17.4%)
  • $200,000 to $249,999549 (17.2%)
  • $250,000 to $299,999333 (10.4%)
  • $150,000 to $174,999284 (8.9%)
  • $500,000 to $749,999229 (7.2%)
  • $400,000 to $499,999226 (7.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

17.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

85.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

50.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$40,809

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

38.5 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

6.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone3,342 (78.5%)
  • Worked At Home452 (10.6%)
  • Carpooled295 (6.9%)
  • Other108 (2.5%)
  • Walked60 (1.4%)
  • Public Transit0 (0.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Similar Locations

5 counties with comparable population, workforce, income, education, and cost of living. Click any to compare.

More on FDI Connect

Compare Essex County against other US geographies, save it to your shortlist, see active property listings on the interactive map, and unlock the full demographic dashboard.

Open full dashboardCreate free account

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