Lee County had 22,173 residents at the 2020 Census, 3,414 fewer than in 2010, a drop of 13.3 percent, according to the Census Bureau’s 2010 and 2020 counts. The bureau’s estimate for July 1, 2025 is 21,642.
The American Community Survey (ACS) adds the detail: income, housing, internet access. Its 2020–2024 five-year estimates came out on Jan. 29, 2026. The Lee Daily Register pulled Lee, Wise and Scott counties and Virginia from the bureau’s tables and tested the gap between Lee and each of the others. The side-by-side table and the test results below are our own work from those published numbers.
Lee, Wise, Scott and Virginia side by side
| Measure | Lee | Wise | Scott | Virginia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residents, 2010 Census | 25,587 | 41,452 | 23,177 | 8,001,024 |
| Residents, 2020 Census | 22,173 | 36,130 | 21,576 | 8,631,393 |
| Change, 2010 to 2020 | -13.3% | -12.8% | -6.9% | +7.9% |
| Estimate, July 1, 2025 | 21,642 | 34,824 | 21,200 | 8,880,107 |
| Median age | 45.5 ±0.4 | 41.8 ±0.5 | 47.7 ±0.4 | 39.0 ±0.1 |
| Age 65 and older | 23.1% ±0.3 | 19.9% ±0.2 | 25.3% ±0.3 | 16.7% ±0.1 |
| Median household income | $41,827 ±3,806 | $52,943 ±2,440 | $46,349 ±3,805 | $93,170 ±458 |
| People below poverty | 28.8% ±4.0 | 17.2% ±2.5 | 20.2% ±2.7 | 9.9% ±0.2 |
| Median home value | $98,900 ±10,129 | $118,600 ±6,535 | $143,000 ±18,446 | $383,700 ±1,024 |
| Median gross rent | $738 ±49 | $790 ±34 | $699 ±34 | $1,579 ±8 |
| Vacant housing units | 21.4% ±2.6 | 16.4% ±2.1 | 22.5% ±2.1 | 8.7% ±0.2 |
| Mobile homes | 19.7% ±2.7 | 28.7% ±3.2 | 19.7% ±2.7 | 4.3% ±0.1 |
| Households with a computer | 88.1% ±2.4 | 92.1% ±1.7 | 86.1% ±1.9 | 95.4% ±0.1 |
| Households with broadband | 75.8% ±3.5 | 84.4% ±2.3 | 77.7% ±2.8 | 91.0% ±0.1 |
| Average commute (minutes) | 26.2 ±2.0 | 24.6 ±2.1 | 29.0 ±1.6 | 27.3 ±0.1 |
Rows from median age down are 2020–2024 ACS estimates from the bureau’s profile tables, including income and poverty and housing. Home value covers owner-occupied homes, and rent covers renters who pay it. The ± figure is the margin of error, set at 90 percent confidence. Wise figures leave out the independent city of Norton, which the bureau reports separately.
Which gaps are real
The bureau’s test for comparing two estimates divides their difference by the square root of the two squared margins added together; a result above 1.0 means the estimates are statistically different. We ran it on every Lee-versus-neighbor pair.
- Clear gaps: Lee’s 28.8 percent poverty rate is higher than Wise’s and Scott’s. Its $98,900 median home value is below both, and its median age falls between Wise’s and Scott’s. Wise has higher income, broadband use and a lower vacancy rate, and more mobile homes.
- Too close to call: Lee’s $41,827 income sits $4,522 below Scott’s, inside the margins, so the data do not show a real difference. The same holds for rent against both neighbors, and for broadband, vacancy and mobile homes against Scott. Lee’s commute is not distinguishable from Wise’s or Virginia’s; Scott’s 29.0 minutes is longer, but only just beyond the margin.
Against Virginia, every survey row except commute time shows a gap well past the margins. Lee’s income is 45 percent of the state figure, its home value 26 percent and its rent 47 percent.
Vacant homes and a catch-all category
The vacancy rate reflects 2,324 empty units (±280) among 10,851. The bureau’s vacancy table sorts them: 205 (±118) were for rent and 58 (±54) for sale only, and 223 (±121) were seasonal or occasional-use homes. The biggest group is 1,595 (±269) listed as “other vacant,” the category left over when a unit fits none of the named reasons. By our division, that is about 15 percent of all Lee housing units, against 3.7 percent statewide. The survey does not say why those homes sit empty.
About one resident in 16 was counted in a prison
Averages for the county include everyone the Census counts. In 2020, the bureau’s group-quarters table put 1,352 Lee residents in adult correctional facilities, 6.1 percent of the county. The shares were 5.4 percent in Wise, 2.7 percent in Scott and 0.7 percent in Virginia, by our arithmetic. The table does not name facilities. The federal U.S. Penitentiary Lee is near Pennington Gap, but the Census does not say how many of those people are held there.
The survey’s totals include people outside households. It estimates that 20,315 of Lee’s 21,900 people live in households, and 113.5 men for every 100 women (±1.6), against 97.6 in Virginia. Median household income counts households only, and the poverty rate rests on 20,258 people, not all 21,900.
The prison count does not explain the population loss. The 2010 Census had 1,486 people in adult correctional facilities, so the other residents fell from 24,101 to 20,821, down 13.6 percent by our subtraction.
Rent and internet moved; home values may not have
The 2015–2019 estimates do not overlap with the current ones, which bureau guidance asks for when comparing five-year data. Lee’s median rent went from $558 (±35) to $738 (±49), up 32 percent; neither year’s rent figure is adjusted for inflation. Households with broadband rose from 48.5 percent (±3.5) to 75.8 percent.
Home value is the exception. Lee’s median went from $88,100 (±6,312) to $98,900, a 12 percent rise that is within the margins of error. Wise ($85,500 to $118,600) and Scott ($94,800 to $143,000) rose by more than their margins allow. For Lee, the survey does not show that values moved.
