Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC

Metro Area Profile

100,991 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC metropolitan area.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signal: opportunity. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
GrowthTop 20% of 821 published metros69
Housing affordability439th of 822 published metros94
ClimateTop 29% of 822 published metros72
Physical resilienceTop 41% of 822 published metros62
AccessTop 37% of 822 published metros83
Economic stability588th of 822 published metros36
The quick read

549 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 8% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

Rent takes 19% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.4 times that income.

A typical July reaches 91°F and a typical January falls to 33°F, on thirty-year normals.

At a glance

Population
100,991
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$58,534
Bottom 23% nationally
Density
218/sq mi
464.3 sq mi of land
Median age
41.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Shelby-Kings Mountain, NC
Nearest major airport
CLT
35 mi · Charlotte/Douglas Intl
Median home value
$200,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Median household income of $58,534 is below 77% of measured US metros.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,730$58,534Bottom 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,079$30,294Bottom 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate16.6%Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute27.1 minTop 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher22.0%Bottom 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Labor force participation58.7%Bottom 40%2024 ACS 5-Year

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $914 takes 19% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.4 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
18.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.4×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$914
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$200,000
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.42Top 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate70.9%Top 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±7144,304Top 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$50$914Bottom 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,612$200,000Bottom 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income18.7%Top 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate12.3%Top 45%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
69/ 100
Top 20% of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2024 to 2025.

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 2% since 2020, reaching 102,194 in 2024.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 19% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 5.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
549
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.4
Top 23% nationally
Year over year
+8%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
18.6%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024102k100k
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.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 33°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.3 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station GASTONIA MUNI AP, 24.6 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation43.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low33°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing38°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

62 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are tornado, earthquake and ice storm.

Ice stormElevated
LightningModerate
EarthquakeModerate
TornadoModerate
HurricaneModerate
HailModerate
LandslideModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, inland flooding, drought, heat wave, wildfire, winter weather.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 35 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Charlotte/Douglas IntlCLT35 mi10,000 ft
Asheville RgnlAVL56 mi8,002 ft
Donaldson FldGYH61 mi8,000 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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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.