Lawrence County, OH

County Profile

56,819 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Lawrence County, OH.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

48out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 13% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity893rd of 1,463 counties measured50
Schools767th of 1,377 counties measured46
Growth1,109th of 1,453 counties measured36
Housing affordabilityTop 30% of 1,462 counties measured78
ClimateTop 22% of 1,463 counties measured75
Physical resilience1,353rd of 1,463 counties measured19
Access1,336th of 1,463 counties measured48
Economic stability1,341st of 1,463 counties measured23
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.2% and median household income $58,325, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 61% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.3 students for every teacher.

18 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 13% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
56,819
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$58,325
Bottom 31% nationally
Density
125/sq mi
453.4 sq mi of land
Median age
41.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Lawrence County
Ohio
Nearest major airport
LCK
86 mi · Rickenbacker Intl
Median home value
$144,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.2% — higher than in all but 47% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.6% over the past year, to 22,932 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$52,14129th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$44,6878th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,8532024 ACS 5-Year$58,325Bottom 31%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,1352024 ACS 5-Year$30,812Bottom 29%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$51,439Bottom 30%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year17.4%Bottom 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.0 minTop 45%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year18.5%Bottom 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year84.4%91st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202622,932Bottom 36%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+1.8%Top 29%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.6%Top 28%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202623,93836th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year68.6%Bottom 22%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%31st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−1.6%Top 2%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.2%Bottom 47%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year5.2%18th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.23.4
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.2% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202458k49k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $58,325 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Registered Nurses5,580$81,010
Retail Salespersons4,290$28,220
Home Health and Personal Care Aides3,620$28,740
Cashiers3,510$27,080
General and Operations Managers3,310$77,350
Cooks, Fast Food3,070$22,610

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

61% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 68% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.3 students for every full-time teacher across 24 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
24
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.3
across all schools here
Math proficiency
61.2%
Bottom 31% in Ohio
Reading proficiency
68.0%
Bottom 49% in Ohio
The 12 largest of 24 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Rock Hill Elementary SchoolRock Hill Local73615.077%69%
Ironton Elementary SchoolIronton City School District60018.275%66%
Dawson-Bryant Elementary SchoolDawson-Bryant Local57018.484%83%
Lawrence CountyLawrence County5696.1——
Symmes Valley Elementary SchoolSymmes Valley Local54614.468%59%
Chesapeake Elementary SchoolChesapeake Union Exempted Village49717.180%76%
Chesapeake High SchoolChesapeake Union Exempted Village38020.032%57%
Ironton High SchoolIronton City School District37718.027%67%
Burlington Elementary SchoolSouth Point Local36420.267%72%
Fairland High SchoolFairland Local35910.637%77%
South Point Elementary SchoolSouth Point Local35517.877%72%
Chesapeake Middle SchoolChesapeake Union Exempted Village34215.561%69%

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Ohio’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 12% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 88.1, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH Metro Area is up 45% over five years, and up 8.4% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,215 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.84% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $973, some 15% above the $848 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $973 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $38,900 a year, about 67% of the median household income here of $58,325.

The typical renter household here spends 28% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $848 a month.

A median home at $144,000 costs 2.1 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $69,067, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
88.1

Prices here run about 12% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
27.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.1×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$973
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$848
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$144,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Lawrence County’s median household income of $58,325, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH Metro Area’s figure202388.1Top 8%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+8.4%98th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+44.9%50th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+66.3%9th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.1Top 27%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year72.3%39th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±482024 ACS 5-Year26,53671st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$853Top 35%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,249Top 17%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$973Top 18%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$332024 ACS 5-Year$848Top 45%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,9392024 ACS 5-Year$144,00028th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$672024 ACS 5-Year$1,21533rd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,4392024 ACS 5-Year$69,067Bottom 32%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.07%2024 ACS 5-Year0.84%54th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.6%Top 48%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1422024 ACS 5-Year26142nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.0%25th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year13.7%78th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4762024 ACS 5-Year3,88674th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

36/ 100
Ranks 1,109 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 4% since 2020, to 55,829 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 18 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Lawrence County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $52,141, above the $44,687 of households that moved out.

At 0.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
18
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.3
Bottom 5% nationally
Year over year
+13%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202458k56k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been falling for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
0.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
74%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$52,141
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$44,687
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Cabell County, WV 411 people · 22% of arrivals
  2. Boyd County, KY 220 people · 12% of arrivals
  3. Scioto County, OH 149 people · 8.1% of arrivals
  4. Wayne County, WV 114 people · 6.2% of arrivals
  5. Greenup County, KY 112 people · 6.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Cabell County, WV 390 people · 21% of departures
  2. Boyd County, KY 243 people · 13% of departures
  3. Scioto County, OH 154 people · 8.4% of departures
  4. Greenup County, KY 120 people · 6.5% of departures
  5. Wayne County, WV 115 people · 6.2% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420251910
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+90%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 86°F and January a low of 26°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.1 inches, including 19.8 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 43, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station HUNTINGTON TRI STATE AP, 16.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year582024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals45.1"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals19.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals26°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year432024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals42°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
43
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
58
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

19 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, heat wave and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 80% of it. Heat wave and tornado are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Inland floodingHigh
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, landslide, ice storm, winter weather, wildfire, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, strong wind, hail, cold wave, drought, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Lawrence County records 0.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 14.4 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 35.6 per 100,000 residents in Lawrence County.

Homicide
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
35.6
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
15.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Lawrence County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

3 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Rickenbacker Intl at 86 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year84.7%Bottom 34%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle86 miBottom 6%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year13.1%Bottom 29%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Rickenbacker IntlLCK86 mi11,902 ft
Wilmington Air ParkILN89 mi10,701 ft
John Glenn Columbus IntlCMH98 mi10,114 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
48
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Lawrence County, OH

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.