Shelbyville, Indiana

Area Profile

20,296 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Shelbyville, in Shelby County.

66out of 100
Area Score
Top 24% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
OpportunityTop 40% of 4,199 cities measured61
SchoolsTop 36% of 4,162 cities measured60
GrowthTop 29% of 4,224 cities measured60
Housing affordabilityTop 5% of 4,218 cities measured86
Climate2,417th of 4,225 cities measured68
Physical resilienceTop 39% of 4,226 cities measured68
Access2,885th of 4,226 cities measured87
Economic stability3,580th of 4,226 cities measured35
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.3% and median household income $55,602, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Shelby County, IN, which contains Shelbyville, rather than for Shelbyville alone.

In the public schools here, 51% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.9 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 183 units authorized over the past twelve months, 39% below the prior year.

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
20,296
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$55,602
Bottom 32% nationally
Density
1,482/sq mi
13.7 sq mi of land
Median age
36.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Indiana
Nearest major airport
IND
30 mi · Indianapolis Intl
Median home value
$174,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Shelby County, IN, which contains Shelbyville, is 3.3%, lower than in 87% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Shelby County, IN, which contains Shelbyville, fell 1.0% over the past year, to 22,984 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsShelby County, IN’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$51,72010th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftShelby County, IN’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$52,24110th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,7552024 ACS 5-Year$55,602Bottom 32%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,8872024 ACS 5-Year$31,275Bottom 41%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year20.4%Bottom 22%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year22.8 minTop 30%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year19.4%Bottom 47%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year79.9%59th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentShelby County, IN’s figureJuly 202622,984Bottom 27%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Shelby County, IN’s figureJuly 2026+2.0%Top 20%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Shelby County, IN’s figureJuly 2026−1.0%Bottom 47%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceShelby County, IN’s figureJuly 202623,76027th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year76.6%Bottom 44%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageIndianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$65,180Bottom 32%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageIndianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$49,340Bottom 35%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Shelby County, IN’s figureJuly 2026−0.4%Top 29%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateShelby County, IN’s figureJuly 20263.3%Top 13%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year6.3%43rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202459k56k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $55,602 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 — Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand48,100$44,180
Retail Salespersons28,840$31,530
Fast Food and Counter Workers28,400$29,040
Registered Nurses25,800$84,230
Stockers and Order Fillers25,630$37,120
Home Health and Personal Care Aides20,590$35,060

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Shelby County, IN, which contains this city.

51% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 53% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.9 students for every full-time teacher across 9 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
10
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.9
across 9 of them
Math proficiency
51.1%
Top 34% in Indiana
Reading proficiency
53.0%
Top 40% in Indiana
All 10 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Shelbyville Sr High SchoolShelbyville Central Schools1,06818.144%65%
Shelbyville Middle SchoolShelbyville Central Schools88617.743%47%
William F Loper Elementary SchoolShelbyville Central Schools61915.567%55%
Thomas A Hendricks Elementary SchShelbyville Central Schools56514.558%44%
Coulston Elementary SchoolShelbyville Central Schools42812.655%30%
Southwestern Elementary SchoolSouthwestern Con Sch Shelby Co40515.662%62%
Golden Bear PreschoolShelbyville Central Schools29517.4——
Southwestern High SchoolSouthwestern Con Sch Shelby Co26412.032%62%
Excel Center - Shelbyville · charterExcel Center - Shelbyville13121.8——
Blue River Career ProgramsBlue River Career Programs0———

47.4% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

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 Indiana’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 5% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 94.7, 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 Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN Metro Area is up 44% over five years, and up 3.5% 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 $1,353 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.77% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,240, some 25% above the $995 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,240 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $49,600 a year, about 89% of the median household income here of $55,602.

The typical renter household here spends 24% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $995 a month.

A median home at $174,700 costs 2.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $74,395, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
94.7

Prices here run about 5% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN 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
24.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,240
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$995
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$174,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Shelbyville’s median household income of $55,602, 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 Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN Metro Area’s figure202394.7Top 25%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.5%59th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+43.8%53rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+106.6%71st percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year2.3Top 45%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year55.2%14th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3592024 ACS 5-Year9,49694th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,070Top 28%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,610Top 23%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,240Top 23%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$442024 ACS 5-Year$995Bottom 47%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,7722024 ACS 5-Year$174,70047th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1892024 ACS 5-Year$1,35337th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$12,3562024 ACS 5-Year$74,395Bottom 44%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.13%2024 ACS 5-Year0.77%35th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year24.3%Top 30%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±152024 ACS 5-Year963rd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%52nd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year8.1%56th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2322024 ACS 5-Year77893rd percentileof 32,3302024 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

60/ 100
Top 29% of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2020 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 grown 4% since 2020, reaching 20,845 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 170 units authorized in 2025, 33% below the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 20,845 residents in 2024, up 1.1% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 183 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 Shelby County, which contains Shelbyville, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $51,720, close to the $52,241 of households that moved out.

At 9.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
183
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
9.0
Top 14% nationally
Year over year
−39%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202421k20k
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 rising 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
17%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$51,720
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$52,241
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Marion County, IN 554 people · 25% of arrivals
  2. Johnson County, IN 331 people · 15% of arrivals
  3. Hancock County, IN 216 people · 9.7% of arrivals
  4. Decatur County, IN 120 people · 5.4% of arrivals
  5. Rush County, IN 110 people · 4.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Marion County, IN 390 people · 17% of departures
  2. Johnson County, IN 244 people · 11% of departures
  3. Hancock County, IN 234 people · 10% of departures
  4. Rush County, IN 167 people · 7.5% of departures
  5. Decatur County, IN 152 people · 6.8% 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. This is the figure for Shelby County, IN. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202527835
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+386%).

Weather & climate

6 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 22°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.1 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 36, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SHELBYVILLE MUNI AP, 2.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year502024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals43.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals22°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year362024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
36
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
50
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
unhealthy for sensitive groups

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

68 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 51% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

TornadoHigh
EarthquakeHigh
HailModerate
DroughtModerate
Heat waveModerate
Cold waveElevated

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, ice storm, winter weather, landslide, strong wind, lightning, hurricane, wildfire, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
243
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,032
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Shelbyville's police department reported 243 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,032.

Shelby County has a modeled homicide rate of about 8.1 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 15.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 24.3 per 100,000 residents in Shelby County.

Homicide
8.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
15.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
24.3
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
22.1
per 100,000 residents

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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Shelbyville’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around Shelbyville (Shelby County) rather than Shelbyville itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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

6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Indianapolis Intl at 30 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year88.8%Bottom 46%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle30 miBottom 28%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle6Top 27%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year9.5%Bottom 40%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Indianapolis IntlIND30 mi11,200 ft
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky IntlCVG69 mi10,000 ft
Grissom ARBGUS79 mi12,501 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
66
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—

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Other cities in Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
IndianapolisMarion County885,86058Indianapolis vs Shelbyville
FishersHamilton County102,33775Fishers vs Shelbyville
CarmelHamilton County101,65180Carmel vs Shelbyville
NoblesvilleHamilton County73,36278
GreenwoodJohnson County66,02973
AndersonMadison County55,36755
WestfieldHamilton County54,67780
LawrenceMarion County49,51761
PlainfieldHendricks County36,36974
ZionsvilleBoone County32,09581
BrownsburgHendricks County31,21579
FranklinJohnson County26,16870

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Shelbyville side by side with a similar place.

Shelbyville vs BellefontaineShelbyville vs Washington Court House

Moving to Shelbyville from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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.

ZIP codes in Shelbyville

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Shelbyville with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
4617628,782$65,182$194,40068