Shelbyville, Kentucky
Area Profile
17,668 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Shelbyville, in Shelby County.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 15 sourcesUnemployment is 4.5% and median household income $75,610, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Shelby County, KY, which contains Shelbyville, rather than for Shelbyville alone.
In the public schools here, 31% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.9 students for every teacher.
274 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 10% of the prior year — steady rather than turning. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Shelby County, KY, which contains Shelbyville, rather than for Shelbyville alone.
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
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment across Shelby County, KY, which contains Shelbyville, is 4.5% — higher than in all but 43% of the 4,226 measured US cities.
Employment across Shelby County, KY, which contains Shelbyville, fell 0.2% over the past year, to 24,588 employed residents.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsShelby County, KY’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $78,776 | 60th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftShelby County, KY’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $61,206 | 25th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$6,0422024 ACS 5-Year | $75,610 | Top 38%of 29,223 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$3,1632024 ACS 5-Year | $33,587 | Bottom 49%of 31,420 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 14.2% | Bottom 37%of 31,773 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±2.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 28.1 min | Bottom 43%of 31,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 26.7% | Top 36%of 31,919 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year | 76.0% | 46th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentShelby County, KY’s figureJuly 2026 | 24,588 | Bottom 30%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)Shelby County, KY’s figureJuly 2026 | +1.2% | Top 28%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)Shelby County, KY’s figureJuly 2026 | −0.2% | Top 38%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceShelby County, KY’s figureJuly 2026 | 25,739 | 29th percentileof 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 76.9% | Bottom 45%of 31,513 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wageLouisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS | $62,310 | Bottom 23%of 3,729 | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wageLouisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS | $48,370 | Bottom 24%of 3,729 | 2025 OEWS |
| Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.0% | 1st percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)Shelby County, KY’s figureJuly 2026 | −0.1% | Bottom 47%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateShelby County, KY’s figureJuly 2026 | 4.5% | Bottom 43%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 10.9% | 64th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Median household income, successive ACS releases
Largest occupations — Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 29,400 | $46,830 |
| Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators | 20,920 | $48,440 |
| Registered Nurses | 18,180 | $84,850 |
| Retail Salespersons | 17,540 | $30,660 |
| General and Operations Managers | 16,830 | $89,140 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 16,410 | $37,610 |
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.
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, KY, which contains this city.
31% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 44% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 16.9 students for every full-time teacher across 11 public schools, more than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martha Layne Collins High School | Shelby County | 1,157 | 18.7 | 28% | 43% |
| Shelby County High School | Shelby County | 1,003 | 19.3 | 25% | 42% |
| Marnel C. Moorman School | Shelby County | 803 | 16.7 | — | — |
| Shelby County West Middle School | Shelby County | 563 | 16.1 | 35% | 53% |
| Shelby County East Middle School | Shelby County | 505 | 16.8 | 36% | 53% |
| Wright Elementary | Shelby County | 489 | 15.8 | 35% | 39% |
| Painted Stone Elementary | Shelby County | 458 | 13.9 | 43% | 44% |
| Clear Creek Elementary | Shelby County | 425 | 14.2 | 35% | 48% |
| Southside Elementary | Shelby County | 412 | 16.5 | 20% | 32% |
| Northside Early Childhood Center | Shelby County | 228 | 32.6 | — | — |
| Ascension Academy | Shelby County | 32 | 5.3 | — | — |
| Shelby County Area Technology Center | Kentucky Tech System | 0 | — | — | — |
45.8% 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 Kentucky’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →Prices for everything a household buys run about 7% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 93.2, 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 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area is up 40% over five years, and up 3.8% 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 $2,455 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.95% of the median home value.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,150, some 11% above the $1,033 tenants already here pay.
At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,150 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $46,000 a year, about 61% of the median household income here of $75,610.
The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,033 a month.
A median home at $257,100 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $97,345, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
Prices here run about 7% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.
Published for the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-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.
The figures above are measured against Shelbyville’s median household income of $75,610, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of living indexthe Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area’s figure2023 | 93.2 | Top 19%of 3,700 | 2023 |
| Home price change (1 year)the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +3.8% | 63rd percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +40.2% | 42nd percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +87.2% | 40th percentileof 4,154 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year | 2.6 | Bottom 45%of 26,815 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year | 56.1% | 15th percentileof 31,717 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±3042024 ACS 5-Year | 6,993 | 91st percentileof 32,177 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $1,030 | Top 25%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $1,430 | Top 14%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $1,150 | Top 17%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$602024 ACS 5-Year | $1,033 | Bottom 45%of 23,120 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$17,7772024 ACS 5-Year | $257,100 | 66th percentileof 29,111 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$1282024 ACS 5-Year | $2,455 | 64th percentileof 26,440 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$10,2662024 ACS 5-Year | $97,345 | Top 30%of 27,548 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.08%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.95% | 49th percentileof 20,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 26.9% | Top 42%of 22,950 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±752024 ACS 5-Year | 62 | 85th percentileof 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.9% | 61st percentileof 31,895 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 3.7% | 31st percentileof 31,769 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±1642024 ACS 5-Year | 321 | 85th percentileof 32,330 | 2024 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.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
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 18,048 in 2024.
Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 18,048 residents in 2024, up 1.2% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.
New construction is predominantly single-family: of 274 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Shelby County, KY, which contains Shelbyville, rather than for Shelbyville alone.
Federal tax returns show Shelby County, which contains Shelbyville, gained about 0.7% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $78,776, above the $61,206 of households that moved out.
At 5.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities. The permit rate is published for Shelby County, KY, which contains Shelbyville, rather than for Shelbyville alone.
Population, annual estimates
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Jefferson County, KY 1,038 people · 40% of arrivals
- Spencer County, KY 145 people · 5.6% of arrivals
- Oldham County, KY 136 people · 5.2% of arrivals
- Henry County, KY 135 people · 5.2% of arrivals
- Franklin County, KY 106 people · 4.1% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Jefferson County, KY 648 people · 28% of departures
- Henry County, KY 187 people · 8.1% of departures
- Spencer County, KY 144 people · 6.2% of departures
- Franklin County, KY 135 people · 5.8% of departures
- Oldham County, KY 87 people · 3.8% 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, KY. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.
The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey lists only jurisdictions that issue their own permits, and Shelbyville, KY is not one. This is the figure for Shelby County, KY, which contains this city.
Weather & climate
7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 25°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 47.3 inches.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 47.3" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 25°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 88°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 7 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 43°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and strong wind, with inland flooding alone responsible for 42% 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.
Overall hazard risk is lower than 75% of measured US cities.
Low or minimal exposure: lightning, inland flooding, ice storm, heat wave, winter weather, landslide, drought, hail, wildfire, hurricane, avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.
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.
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 55 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, lower than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 768.
Shelby County has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.3 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.
Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 13.1 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.
Drug overdose deaths run at about 17.8 per 100,000 residents in Shelby County.
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.
- Air quality
- The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this 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
2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Louisville Muhammad Ali Intl at 28 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 94.8% | Top 26%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 28 mi | Bottom 31%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 2 | Bottom 8%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 3.4% | Top 27%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville Muhammad Ali Intl | SDF | 28 mi | 11,887 ft |
| Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Intl | CVG | 66 mi | 10,000 ft |
| Owensboro/Daviess County Rgnl | OWB | 110 mi | 8,000 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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Other cities in Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN
Same metropolitan area, measured the same way| City | County | Population | Area Score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louisville/Jefferson County | Jefferson County | 631,818 | 56 | Louisville/Jefferson County vs Shelbyville |
| Jeffersonville | Clark County | 51,043 | 69 | Jeffersonville vs Shelbyville |
| New Albany | Floyd County | 37,581 | 59 | New Albany vs Shelbyville |
| Jeffersontown | Jefferson County | 29,199 | 56 | |
| Clarksville | Clark County | 22,016 | 63 | |
| Mount Washington | Bullitt County | 18,480 | 67 | |
| St. Matthews | Jefferson County | 17,577 | 62 | |
| Shively | Jefferson County | 15,638 | 53 | |
| Shepherdsville | Bullitt County | 14,533 | 55 | |
| Bardstown | Nelson County | 13,804 | 61 | |
| Lyndon | Jefferson County | 11,030 | 57 | |
| La Grange | Oldham County | 10,311 | 68 |
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.
Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyCompare
Put Shelbyville side by side with a similar place.
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 for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Safety | Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency | 2025 calendar year |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Demographics, Income | Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county) | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Housing | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional price parities and county personal income | 2023 |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Safety | U.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 |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Housing | U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions) | 2026 Q2 |
| Current conditions | NOAA 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 areaEvery ZIP area in Shelbyville with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Shelbyville closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.
| ZIP | Population | Median household income | Median home value | Area Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40065 | 32,160 | $77,869 | $280,500 | — |