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Place dossier plate
SheetMI-SHELBY-MI · Shelby, MI 2,571 pop · income 25th pct · 8 tracts
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Shelby
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Shelby on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
West · lowest
52,292
West · lowest
52,292 median HH income
28.7% of the leader · rank #1
Weiner · near
53,304
Weiner · near
53,304 median HH income
29.3% of the leader · rank #2
Cedarville · near
53,304
Cedarville · near
53,304 median HH income
29.3% of the leader · rank #3
Shelby · this city
53,309
Shelby · this city
53,309 median HH income
29.3% of the leader · rank #4
Bolivar · near
53,317
Bolivar · near
53,317 median HH income
29.3% of the leader · rank #5
Sierra Blanca · near
53,319
Sierra Blanca · near
53,319 median HH income
29.3% of the leader · rank #6
Village of Gr… · highest
182,000
Village of Gr… · highest
182,000 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Shelby on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 2,571.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Shelby - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Shelby lands in the 25th percentile for household income and the 87th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
25th
percentile, household income
19th
percentile, home value
32nd
percentile, median rent
87th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Shelby, MI
2,571 people live in Shelby, Michigan - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Shelby brings in $53,309 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 13.4%. Typical homes in Shelby are valued around $124,000, and the median resident age is 29.3 years. About 15.0% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 63.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Shelby reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 459.3 crimes per 100,000 residents, below the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Michigan run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Michigan at 96.2 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,113 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Michigan run around $238, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. The average commute for Shelby workers runs 16.0 minutes, with 75.1% driving alone and 1.5% working from home. Natural-hazard exposure scores 49.6 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Shelby's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from schools and households to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to reported crime to within-city variation to housing and income to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Shelby, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the education layer cover for Shelby?
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 15.0% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
Which cities make useful reference points for Shelby?
Within Michigan, the closest population matches are Village of Grosse Pointe Shores (2,589 residents, $182,000 income); Pleasant Ridge (2,607 residents, $161,058 income); Franklin (2,610 residents, $176,571 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Bellevue, ID (2,571 residents); West, TX (2,571 residents); Vergennes, VT (2,571 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
What does the journey to work look like in Shelby?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 75.1%. The reported mean trip to work is 16.0 minutes.
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Shelby?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 459.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 80% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
413.4
Violent rate
45.9
Total reported rate
459.3
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Shelby?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 13.4%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
Household income
$53,309
Home value
$124,000
Value / income
2.3×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +13 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.6% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+0.6%
2025 estimate
2,185
2020 estimate
2,172
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Michigan average
D
City profile score · Shelby, MI
43/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Violent crime A
46 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Cost of living C
96.2 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Poverty rate F
13.4%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$53,309
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
15.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Shelby profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 85/100 (A) · 46 /100k
Cost of living: 57/100 (C) · 96.2 index
Poverty rate: 26/100 (F) · 13.4%
Household income: 25/100 (F) · $53,309
Bachelor's+ share: 20/100 (F) · 15.0%
Where Shelby sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Shelby's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Shelby highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Shelby, MI (this city): home $124,000, crime 459/100k
Bellevue, ID : home $482,600, crime 659/100k
West, TX : home $164,700, crime 424/100k
Vergennes, VT : home $263,500, crime 817/100k
Rangely, CO : home $192,200, crime 1,315/100k
Hallowell, ME : home $266,700, crime 571/100k
Pleasant Ridge, MI : home $435,500, crime 586/100k
Franklin, MI : home $696,700, crime 643/100k
Mattawan, MI : home $177,500, crime 1,380/100k
How does Shelby compare to other US cities?
Here's how Shelby stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income25% higher than other cities
Home value19% pricier than other cities
Median rent32% pricier than other cities
Safety87% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Michigan, Shelby ranks #33 of 254 Michigan cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Shelby against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Michigan only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Michigan-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Shelby near the bottom of Michigan's cities
Among the 727 Michigan cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Shelby ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Shelby only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#473 of 718
34th percentile in Michigan
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 727
0th percentile in Michigan
Median Home Value
#441 of 721
38th percentile in Michigan
Poverty Rate
#203 of 727
72nd percentile in Michigan
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#477 of 727
34th percentile in Michigan
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Michigan only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
25th percentile nationally for median household income · 87th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Shelby's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Shelby's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Shelby's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$124,000Among the most affordablemore affordable than 81% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Shelby's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,098 of 15,516
More affordable than 80% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,854 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.3×, Shelby sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,098 of 15,516 and #2,854 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$53,309Shelby, MI median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Shelby, MI median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Shelby, MI.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)15.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)13.4%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)63.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,571
Median Income
$53,309
Median Home Value
$124,000
Median Age
29.3
Poverty Rate
13.4%
Labor force participation
63.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
15.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
459.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
45.9
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
413.4
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Shelby's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,172 residents
2021
2,177 residents
2022
2,176 residents
2023
2,175 residents
2024
2,169 residents
2025
2,185 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
16.0 minutes
Drive Alone
75.1%
Carpool
19.8%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
1.7%
Work from Home
1.5%
Other
1.9%
Based on 1,169 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Michigan statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $238
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Michigan at $238 (electricity about $105 , water and sewer about $48 ).
These are Michigan statewide averages, not a meter reading for Shelby. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Michigan's BEA cost-of-living index is 96.2 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Shelby is $1,113/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Michigan statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 49.6 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Michigan statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Shelby sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Shelby compares to similar-size Michigan cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.