Shelby County, Ohio Population and Demographics

In this article, we'll explore the population statistics for Shelby County, Ohio, including popular demographics data like median age, number of households, household income, gender, employment and unemployment rates, occupations, religion, and more.

We are using the latest American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year survey data from the US Census Bureau, which is accurate up to 2021.

Table of Contents

Population

There is a lot of data that lets us see how many people live in Shelby County, Ohio. The most basic data is the total population, which is the total number of people living in Shelby County, Ohio. The estimated population of Shelby County, Ohio is 48,307 people, with a median age of 39.7.

We can look at the total population in Shelby County over the last 5 years to see how much it has changed.

Year Population Change 5-Year Change
2021
48,307
 -0.62% -1.22%
2020
48,610
 -0.29% -
2019
48,749
 -0.1% -
2018
48,797
 -0.21% -
2017
48,902
 - -

Population of Shelby County, Ohio by Race and Ethnicity

We can also look at how the population has changed over the last 5 years by each of the race/ethnicity types as defined by the US Census Bureau.

Race 2021 2017 Change
White
92.2%
93.2%
 -1.07%
Black/African American
1.9%
2.8%
 -32.14%
Native
0.1%
0.3%
 -66.67%
Hispanic
1.6%
1.5%
 +6.67%
Asian
0.9%
0.9%
 0.00%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0%
0%
 0.00%
Two Or More Races
2.9%
1.3%
 +123.08%
Other
0.4%
0%
 0.00%

This data can be very important for a number of reasons, including social and economic research, planning and development, and marketing to a multi-cultural population.

Note that the Native group includes both Native American and Alaskan Native people.

Population of Shelby County, Ohio by Age and Gender

The age and gender of a population is another interesting demographic statistic because it lets us track trends in the population over time. For example, we can see how the population has changed over the last 5 years by median age as a total, and also by male and female.

Year Total Male Female
2021 39.7 -0.25% 39.2 0% 40.4 -0.74%
2020 39.8 +0.76% 39.2 +1.82% 40.7 +0.49%
2019 39.5 +0.25% 38.5 +1.05% 40.5 -1.46%
2018 39.4 +0.25% 38.1 0% 41.1 +0.98%
2017 39.3 - 38.1 - 40.7 -

The median age of Shelby County, Ohio gives you an idea of the age distribution, with half of the population being older than the median age and half being younger.

This can then be used to infer and compare against birth rates, parent ages, and more metrics to understand the population. For example, an increasing median age indicates an aging population, which can be a sign of a declining population in terms of birth rates and workforce participation.

Age 2021 2017
(Years) Male Female Male Female
0 to 9 3,590 -11.59% 2,916 +2.92% 3,189 3,001
10 to 19 3,643 +3.69% 3,608 -8.76% 3,776 3,300
20 to 29 2,849 +2.41% 2,760 +1.71% 2,917 2,805
30 to 39 2,811 -7.14% 2,644 +2.69% 2,615 2,714
40 to 49 3,185 -4.47% 3,193 -10.46% 3,044 2,871
50 to 59 3,651 -0.31% 3,527 -6.41% 3,638 3,299
60 to 69 2,808 +6.46% 2,846 +6.19% 2,990 3,021
70+ 2,148 +3.96% 2,723 +6.37% 2,231 2,896

Median Household Income

The latest median household income of Shelby County, Ohio is $66,536.00.

In simple terms, the median income is the middle income of a group of people. Half of the people in the group make more than the median income, and half make less. The median income is a good indicator of the overall income of a group of people, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more.

Median Income by Age

We can also look at the median income by age to see how the median income varies by age, and how it compares to the overall median income for Shelby County.

  • Under 25
    $45,134.00
  • 25 to 44
    $76,902.00
  • 45 to 64
    $83,411.00
  • 65 and over
    $44,480.00

Average Household Income

Whenever we ask what is the average household income in Shelby County, we are actually talking about the mean household income.

This is calculated by adding up all the incomes of all the households in Shelby County, and then dividing that number by the total number of households. This is a good way to get a general idea of the average income of a group of people, but it can be skewed by a very high or very low incomes.

The average household income of Shelby County, Ohio is currently $82,156.00.

In terms of accurately summarizing income at a geographic level, the median income is a better metric than the average income because it isn't affected by a small number of very high or very low incomes.

If you had an area where the average income was greater than the median, it can mean that there is significant income inequality, with income being concentrated in a small number of wealthy households.

4.13% of households in Shelby County are classed as high income households (making $200,000+ per year).

Household Income Tiers

The US Census Bureau divides households into income tiers based on the median income for the area. This is a good way to compare the income of Shelby County against other areas.

  • Less than $24,999
    14.49%
  • $25,000 to $49,999
    22.21%
  • $50,000 to $74,999
    18.69%
  • $75,000 to $99,999
    16.43%
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    17.73%
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    6.32%
  • $200,000 or more
    4.13%

Per Capita Income

The per capita income in Shelby County is $31,861.00.

Per capita income is the average income of a person in a given area. It is calculated by dividing the total income of Shelby County by the total population of Shelby County.

This is different from the average or mean income because it includes and accounts for all people in Shelby County, Ohio, including people like children, the elderly, unemployed people, retired people, and more.

Education Levels

We can also look at the education levels in Shelby County to see how many people have a high school degree, a bachelor's degree, or a graduate degree.

Educational attainment is a good indicator of the overall education level of a population, and can be used to compare against other metrics such as the average income, per capita income, and more to see how education levels affect income, unemployment rates, and more.

  • Master's degree or higher
    8.17%
  • Bachelor's degree
    19.94%
  • Some college or associate's degree
    9.53%
  • High school diploma or equivalent
    58.70%
  • Less than high school diploma
    3.66%

Employment

Employment rates are all based around the total population in Shelby County that are over the age of 16.

The total population of Shelby County over the age of 16 is 37,706.

Of those people, a total of 67.90% are working or actively looking for work. This is called the labor force participation rate.

The participation rate is a useful market measure because it shows the relative amount of labor resources available to the economy.

The employment to total population rate in Shelby County is 64.30%.

Employment by Age

We can look at the employment rates by age to see how it compares to the overall employment rate.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
16 to 19 years 2,665 59.10% 15.80%
20 to 24 years 2,918 89.50% 16.30%
25 to 29 years 2,804 86.70% 3.80%
30 to 34 years 2,649 84.60% 2.00%
35 to 44 years 5,656 88.60% 4.40%
45 to 54 years 6,209 82.00% 4.20%
55 to 59 years 3,667 81.60% 2.10%
60 to 64 years 3,144 65.40% 0.00%
65 to 74 years 4,843 28.90% 0.20%
75 years and over 3,151 6.20% 14.30%

Employment by Race

Another very interesting employment statistic we can look at is the employment and unemployment rates by race in Shelby County. The table below shows the rates for each of the ethnicity groups types defined by the US Census Bureau.

Age Population Participation Unemployment Rate
White 35,576 67.40% 4.30%
Black or African American 760 70.00% 22.00%
American Indian and Alaska Native 62 33.90% 100.00%
Asian 341 76.00% 0.00%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0 0.00% 0.00%
Other 162 90.10% 47.90%
Two or more races 805 83.60% 16.90%
Hispanic or Latino 530 84.90% 5.30%
Not Hispanic or Latino 35,173 67.20% 4.20%

Occupations

In this section we can look at the most common occupations in Shelby County as well as the gender breakdown and earnings of them.

The total population of civilian employees that are 16 years old or older in Shelby County is 24,235, with median earnings of $40,044.00.

Women in Shelby County, Ohio earning approximately 65.90% of the men's earnings.

Population Earnings
Total 24,235 $40,044.00
Male 12,819 $50,022.00
Female 11,416 $32,979.00

Occupations by Category

In the table below, we can break down the population and earnings even further by occupation. The list of occupation categories below will show you how many people are employed in each category and the median earnings of each profession.

Occupation Employed Earnings
Management 1,860 $66,844.00
Business and Financial 857 $58,750.00
Computer and Mathematical 288 $80,763.00
Architecture and Engineering 675 $83,267.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 118 $62,500.00
Community and Social Service 538 $38,381.00
Legal 136 $41,588.00
Educational and Library 1,261 $53,946.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 152 $31,250.00
Healthcare Practitioners 1,127 $58,044.00
Healthcare Support 629 $26,239.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 157 $66,033.00
Law Enforcement 105 $54,150.00
Food Preparation and Serving 1,291 $14,017.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 672 $31,173.00
Personal Care and Service 386 $16,484.00
Sales 1,612 $32,006.00
Office and Administrative Support 2,727 $34,534.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 291 $18,229.00
Construction and Extraction 925 $55,313.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 1,021 $53,716.00
Production 4,761 $39,303.00
Transportation and Material Moving 1,012 $36,867.00

Occupations by Gender

The table below shows the same occupations from the list above, but we have split them by male and female to see how many male and females work in each occupation, the median earnings, and the male to female ratio of earnings.

That last metric is important because it can be used to look at the gender pay gap between men and women.

Occupation Male Female
Population Earnings Population Earnings
Management 1,232 $80,658.00 628 $54,800.00
Business and Financial 360 $72,308.00 497 $45,750.00
Computer and Mathematical 266 $80,805.00 22 $54,167.00
Architecture and Engineering 615 $84,176.00 60 $26,250.00
Life, Physical, and Social Science 67 $85,139.00 51 $48,487.00
Community and Social Service 145 $47,679.00 393 $38,310.00
Legal 19 $0.00 117 $41,309.00
Educational and Library 332 $73,864.00 929 $50,080.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media 49 $45,208.00 103 $28,125.00
Healthcare Practitioners 128 $69,706.00 999 $56,629.00
Healthcare Support 68 $33,000.00 561 $26,175.00
Firefighters and Protective Service 94 $65,109.00 63 $87,361.00
Law Enforcement 102 $54,300.00 3 $0.00
Food Preparation and Serving 318 $7,763.00 973 $14,988.00
Building and Grounds Cleaning 428 $45,109.00 244 $10,167.00
Personal Care and Service 81 $100,030.00 305 $11,106.00
Sales 766 $43,125.00 846 $27,065.00
Office and Administrative Support 710 $53,434.00 2,017 $32,846.00
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 269 $17,813.00 22 $0.00
Construction and Extraction 907 $55,028.00 18 $76,786.00
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair 974 $54,521.00 47 $34,107.00
Production 2,996 $43,669.00 1,765 $32,583.00
Transportation and Material Moving 863 $40,155.00 149 $17,670.00

Households and Family Size

A household defined bu the US Census Bureau is a group of people who occupy a housing unit. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room occupied as separate living quarters.

There are currently 18,429 households in Shelby County, with an average household size of 2.6 people.

A family is defined as a group of two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption who live together in the same household.

There are 12,476 families in Shelby County with an average family size of 3.1 people.

Households by Marital Status

The four categories of household by marital status are:

  • Married-couple family
  • Male householder with no spouse present
  • Female household with no spouse present
  • Nonfamily household

The table below shows the total number of households and families, with the average sizes of each.

Married Male Female Nonfamily
Total Households 9,939 650 1,887 5,953
Average Household Size 3.18 3.48 3.45 1.26
Total Families 9,939 650 1,887 0
Average Household Size 3.14 2.81 2.99 0

Poverty

Of the 12,476 families in Shelby County, 8.60% are considered to be below the poverty threshold.

The table below shows the latest poverty thresholds in Shelby County:

Household Size Poverty Threshold
1 Person $14,580.00
2 People $19,720.00
3 People $24,860.00
4 People $30,000.00
5 People $35,140.00
6 People $40,280.00
7 People $45,420.00
8 People $50,560.00

Housing

There are 20,097 housing units in Shelby County, Ohio.

The table below shows the split between occupied and vacant units:

Total Percentage
Occupied 18,429 91.70%
Vacant 1,668 8.30%

25.18% of the total 20,097 housing units in Shelby County are rental units. This is approximately 5,060 properties.

For owner-occupied housing units, a total of 13,150 are occupied by the owner - or 65.43% of the total.

Rental Rates

The median rent for a property in Shelby County is $787.00.

In the chart below, we can look at the number of rental properties in Shelby County that fall into a particular rent range. These can then be used to compare with other areas, or to see how they have changed over time.

  • No rent paid
    219
  • Less than $500
    659
  • $500 to $999
    3,250
  • $1,000 to $1,499
    974
  • $1,500 to $1,999
    104
  • $2,000 to $2,499
    34
  • $2,500 to $2,999
    39
  • $3,000 or more
    0

Property Value

The median value of a property in Shelby County is $154,500.00.

Just like with rental rates, we can look at the number of properties in Shelby County that fall into a particular value range.

  • Less than $50,000
    785
  • $50,000 to $99,999
    2,502
  • $100,000 to $149,999
    3,056
  • $150,000 to $199,999
    2,081
  • $200,000 to $299,999
    2,537
  • $300,000 to $499,999
    1,743
  • $500,000 to $999,999
    418
  • $1,000,000 or more
    28

Property Age

We can also look at the age of properties in Shelby County. The chart below shows the number of properties in Shelby County that fall into a particular age range.

  • 1939 or earlier
    4,495
  • 1940 to 1949
    901
  • 1950 to 1959
    1,663
  • 1960 to 1969
    2,034
  • 1970 to 1979
    3,037
  • 1980 to 1989
    1,938
  • 1990 to 1999
    3,160
  • 2000 to 2009
    2,133
  • 2010 to 2013
    736
  • 2014 or later
    0

Vehicles per Household

The number of vehicles available per household can be a good indicator of the level of affluence in an area. The chart below shows the number of households in Shelby County that have a particular number of vehicles available.

  • No vehicles available
    667
  • 1 vehicle available
    5,133
  • 2 vehicles available
    6,977
  • 3 or more vehicles available
    5,652

Commuting to Work

In this section, we can also look at how people in Shelby County get to work. The chart below shows the number of people in Shelby County that commute to work in a particular way.

18.7 minutes is the average travel time to work for people in Shelby County.

These commute times can be compared to other date like income and educational levels to see how they relate to each other and if there are any trends in the data that might suggest a correlation.

  • Less than 5 minutes
    1,134
  • 5 to 9 minutes
    4,471
  • 10 to 14 minutes
    4,547
  • 15 to 19 minutes
    3,388
  • 20 to 24 minutes
    3,311
  • 25 to 29 minutes
    1,592
  • 30 to 34 minutes
    1,628
  • 35 to 39 minutes
    361
  • 40 to 44 minutes
    535
  • 45 to 59 minutes
    930
  • 60 to 89 minutes
    453
  • 90 or more minutes
    287

Summary

We've covered a LOT of demographic and population data for Shelby County, Ohio in this article! Hopefully you have found it very useful in your research of the area.

If you use any of the data found on this page, please consider linking back to USPopulation.org as the source and if you have any feedback or data requests, click here to contact us.

Places in Shelby County, Ohio

We have data for 24 places in Shelby County, Ohio. Click on a place below to see more information about the demographics of that place.