county

Shelby County, AL

Demographic and economic profile of Shelby County, AL, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Shelby County, AL is a largely residential, high-income suburb of Birmingham with a population of 235,969 that grew 7.4% over five years, pointing to sustained in-migration. The county's 46.2% bachelor's-degree attainment rate and 2.9% unemployment rate reflect an educated, engaged workforce earning a median of $51,465, supported by a median household income of $97,961—well above typical regional benchmarks. An 81.4% homeownership rate, 6.9% poverty rate, and median home value of $298,700 round out a picture of a relatively affluent, stable county with a mean commute of 29.7 minutes suggesting most employment centers lie outside county lines.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

235,969

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$97,961

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

40.3 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+7.4% since 2018

Shelby County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone173,778 (75.5%)
  • Black or African American Alone31,044 (13.5%)
  • Some Other Race Alone7,321 (3.2%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race6,881 (3.0%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races5,635 (2.4%)
  • Asian Alone5,042 (2.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish12,129
  2. 2.Other Indo-European1,172
  3. 3.Arabic1,002
  4. 4.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)914
  5. 5.Vietnamese761

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

23.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

60.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

16.4%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

5.5%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

11,229

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$56,097

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$47,914

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

2.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

6.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance28,035
  2. 2.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services13,309
  3. 3.Finance & Insurance, & Real Estate & Rental & Leasing12,907
  4. 4.Retail Trade (Group)12,879
  5. 5.Manufacturing (Group)9,411

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations57,912
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations25,430
  3. 3.Service Occupations14,348
  4. 4.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations11,384
  5. 5.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations9,244

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.73×)4,604
  2. 2.Finance, Insurance, & Real Estate (LQ 1.65×)12,714
  3. 3.Other Services (LQ 1.21×)6,580
  4. 4.Construction (LQ 1.05×)8,375
  5. 5.Retail Trade (LQ 0.99×)12,428

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$298,700

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,348/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

81.4%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $300,000 to $399,99915,433 (21.8%)
  • $400,000 to $499,99910,142 (14.4%)
  • $500,000 to $749,9999,864 (14.0%)
  • $200,000 to $249,9999,103 (12.9%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9998,657 (12.2%)
  • $175,000 to $199,9993,069 (4.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

46.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

94.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

65.7%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$51,465

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

29.5 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

2.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone87,736 (74.8%)
  • Worked At Home19,849 (16.9%)
  • Carpooled7,887 (6.7%)
  • Other885 (0.8%)
  • Walked767 (0.7%)
  • Motorcycle57 (0.0%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.