Shelbyville, Tennessee

Area Profile

24,661 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Shelbyville, in Bedford County.

51out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 24% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity2,731st of 4,199 cities measured49
Schools4,145th of 4,162 cities measured4
GrowthTop 14% of 4,224 cities measured71
Housing affordabilityTop 43% of 4,218 cities measured69
ClimateTop 28% of 4,225 cities measured75
Physical resilience2,975th of 4,226 cities measured37
Access3,290th of 4,226 cities measured81
Economic stability2,976th of 4,226 cities measured46
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.5% and median household income $55,073, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured.

198 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 11% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

Rent takes 29% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.5 times what its owners earn.

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
24,661
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$55,073
Bottom 31% nationally
Density
1,277/sq mi
19.3 sq mi of land
Median age
31.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Tennessee
Micro area
Nearest major airport
MQY
35 mi · Smyrna
Median home value
$244,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.5%, lower than in 81% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment fell 1.8% over the past year, to 11,609 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsBedford County, TN’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$59,15624th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftBedford County, TN’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$48,8555th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$6,5332024 ACS 5-Year$55,073Bottom 31%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,6112024 ACS 5-Year$25,611Bottom 22%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year21.2%Bottom 20%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±2.5 min2024 ACS 5-Year29.8 minBottom 35%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year13.1%Bottom 29%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year73.7%38th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202611,609Bottom 5%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+0.3%Top 41%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.8%Bottom 27%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202612,0305th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year79.7%Top 45%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.7%Top 19%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.5%Top 19%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year6.8%46th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2023/012023/102024/072025/042026/074.22.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.5% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2023-01 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

202120222023202455k45k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $55,073 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.

21% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 25% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

Public schools
8
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
—
Math proficiency
20.6%
Bottom 3% in Tennessee
Reading proficiency
25.4%
Bottom 5% in Tennessee
All 8 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Shelbyville Central High SchoolBedford County1,604—6%32%
Harris Middle SchoolBedford County977—23%18%
Learning Way ElementaryBedford County638—11%13%
Liberty ElementaryBedford County631—24%24%
Thomas Magnet SchoolBedford County436—72%67%
Eakin ElementaryBedford County399—16%11%
South Side ElementaryBedford County352—27%12%
East Side ElementaryBedford County323—27%18%

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

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Tennessee is up 58% over five years, and up 3.6% 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 $1,371 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.56% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,320, some 25% above the $1,056 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,320 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $52,800 a year, about 96% of the median household income here of $55,073.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,056 a month.

A median home at $244,000 costs 3.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $69,452, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Rent as a share of income
29.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,320
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,056
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$244,000
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Shelbyville’s median household income of $55,073, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Tennessee’s figure2026 Q2+3.6%61st percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Tennessee’s figure2026 Q2+58.3%93rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Tennessee’s figure2026 Q2+130.8%95th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.52024 ACS 5-Year3.5Bottom 24%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year50.7%10th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3652024 ACS 5-Year9,49894th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,170Top 35%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,660Top 27%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,320Top 28%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1002024 ACS 5-Year$1,056Bottom 43%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$16,0972024 ACS 5-Year$244,00064th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1152024 ACS 5-Year$1,37137th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,5872024 ACS 5-Year$69,452Bottom 37%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year0.56%16th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year29.0%Bottom 46%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1432024 ACS 5-Year15392nd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.6%67th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year2.7%25th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2452024 ACS 5-Year40988th 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.

Development Momentum

71/ 100
Top 14% 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 9% since 2020, reaching 25,792 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 191 units authorized in 2025, 22% below the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 25,792 residents in 2024, up 2.0% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 198 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Bedford County, which contains Shelbyville, gained about 1.1% 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 $59,156, above the $48,855 of households that moved out.

At 8.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
198
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
8.0
Top 16% nationally
Year over year
+11%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202426k24k
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
+1.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
29%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$59,156
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$48,855
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Rutherford County, TN 878 people · 30% of arrivals
  2. Coffee County, TN 265 people · 9.0% of arrivals
  3. Davidson County, TN 136 people · 4.6% of arrivals
  4. Marshall County, TN 129 people · 4.4% of arrivals
  5. Williamson County, TN 111 people · 3.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Rutherford County, TN 606 people · 25% of departures
  2. Coffee County, TN 282 people · 11% of departures
  3. Marshall County, TN 148 people · 6.0% of departures
  4. Davidson County, TN 97 people · 3.9% of departures
  5. Franklin County, TN 95 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 Bedford County, TN. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025267175
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+9%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 89°F and January a low of 29°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 59.4 inches, including 1.1 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SHELBYVILLE WATER DEPT, 1.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND6.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals59.4"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals1.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals29°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals89°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals40°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

37 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 47% of it. Cold wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

TornadoModerate
EarthquakeElevated
Inland floodingElevated
Strong windModerate
HailModerate
LightningModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: cold wave, winter weather, ice storm, drought, hurricane, landslide, wildfire, coastal flooding, tsunami, avalanche, 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.

Violent crime
417
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,389
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 417 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,389.

Bedford County has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.2 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 12.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 22.6 per 100,000 residents in Bedford County.

Homicide
4.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
22.6
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
14.9
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.

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 (Bedford 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.

Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. 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 Smyrna at 35 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year86.2%Bottom 35%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle35 miBottom 23%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle3Bottom 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year9.7%Bottom 39%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
SmyrnaMQY35 mi8,038 ft
Nashville IntlBNA45 mi11,030 ft
Huntsville Intl-Carl T Jones FldHSV62 mi10,001 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
51
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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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
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
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
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
3716038,148$64,800$277,70052