A town of 22,100. A regional job hub with 15,271 jobs.
The 3 things Shelby does most differently from other towns.
1919 · Interior of Lily Mill18 postcards, papers and photographs from public archives, and 15 places on the National Register.
1924
Early automobile in
Photo · Wikimedia Commons. A different picture from Shelby’s archive appears here every day.
See all 18 archive items →What neighbors are saying. Town Square →
I was thinking about how great it is that our average commute to work is just 20 minutes, which is pretty quick compared to the rest of the…
Nothing on the calendar.
Ordered by what stands out in Shelby. Another town gets a different order.
About one in 4 of Shelby’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Charlotte (9%), Gastonia (7%) and Kings Mountain (5%). Half commute less than 20 miles.
The typical Shelby home is worth about $213,000, about the same as a year ago, 36% below the North Carolina typical home.
Shelby reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 94% report less.
3.8 miles of trails across 10 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hanna Park | 1.6 mi | 46 |
| 2. Shelby City Park | 1 mi | 172 |
| 3. Holly Oak Park | — | 17 |
The public schools Shelby’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, outperform 56% of North Carolina’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they rank near the top.
| School | Grades | Students | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth Elementary | PK–5 | 649 | C |
| Jefferson Elementary | PK–5 | 439 | B+ |
| James Love Elementary | PK–5 | 376 | C+ |
| Shelby Middle | 6–8 | 588 | C |
| Shelby High | 9–12 | 792 | C |
| Cleveland ECHS | 9–13 | 225 | A+ |
Shelby beats the North Carolina average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 16.
| What stands out | Shelby | NC |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 79.7% | 76.7% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 12.6% | 8.1% |
Shelby has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. A typical July afternoon reaches 90°, a January night drops to 29°, and about 4 inches of snow falls in a normal winter.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 35% of U.S. communities.
Where Shelby’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
15 places in Shelby on the National Register of Historic Places.
48 notable people were born in Shelby.
City in North Carolina, United States
Shelby is a city in and the county seat of Cleveland County, North Carolina. It lies near the western edge of the Charlotte-Concord, NC-SC Combined Statistical Area. The population was 21,918 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Shelby.
