Chelsea vs Helena

A side-by-side comparison of Chelsea and Helena: population, income, housing, and more.

Chelsea and Helena are places in Alabama. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Helena has the higher population (21,452 vs 15,731 in Chelsea). Chelsea has the higher median household income ($110,056 vs $109,590 in Helena). Chelsea has the higher median home value ($339,400 vs $292,700 in Helena).

Population, income & housing

	Chelsea	Helena
Population	15,731	21,452
Median age	38.2 yrs	37.5 yrs
Median household income	$110,056	$109,590
Median home value	$339,400	$292,700
Median gross rent	$1,456	$1,420
Housing units	5,733	7,980
Homeownership rate	89.9%	91.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	44.9%	48.2%
Unemployment rate	3.6%	2.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Chelsea	Helena
Population	13,098 → 15,731 (+20.1%)	18,463 → 21,452 (+16.2%)
Median household income	$97,727 → $110,056 (+12.6%)	$87,781 → $109,590 (+24.8%)
Median home value	$232,700 → $339,400 (+45.9%)	$195,100 → $292,700 (+50.0%)
Median gross rent	$1,448 → $1,456 (+0.6%)	$1,341 → $1,420 (+5.9%)

Chelsea

Population

13,09815,731

Median household income

$97,727$110,056

Median home value

$232,700$339,400

Median gross rent

$1,448$1,456

Helena

Population

18,46321,452

Median household income

$87,781$109,590

Median home value

$195,100$292,700

Median gross rent

$1,341$1,420

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Chelsea	Helena
Under 5	5.7%	6.4%
5 to 17	21.5%	21.3%
18 to 24	7.0%	6.3%
25 to 34	11.2%	13.3%
35 to 44	15.3%	13.3%
45 to 54	13.3%	16.7%
55 to 64	10.5%	9.4%
65 to 74	11.0%	10.0%
75 and over	4.5%	3.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Chelsea	Helena
White (non-Hispanic)	83.7%	71.1%
Black or African American	7.4%	17.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.3%	1.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	1.2%
Two or more races	3.0%	4.2%
Hispanic or Latino	5.5%	4.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Chelsea	Helena
No high school diploma	3.2%	2.9%
High school graduate	15.9%	17.5%
Some college or associate's	36.1%	31.5%
Bachelor's degree	33.2%	31.9%
Graduate or professional degree	11.7%	16.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Chelsea	Helena
Drove alone	80.1%	75.3%
Carpooled	4.7%	6.9%
Public transit	0.4%	0.0%
Walked	0.2%	0.5%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	13.8%	16.6%
Other means	0.8%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Chelsea	Helena
1-unit, detached	94.6%	93.7%
1-unit, attached	2.5%	2.9%
2 to 4 units	0.3%	0.3%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	0.8%
20 or more units	0.0%	1.5%
Mobile home & other	2.5%	0.6%

Poverty & households

	Chelsea	Helena
Poverty rate	2.2%	3.7%
Average household size	2.83	2.84
Mean commute (minutes)	34	31
Median year structure built	2007	2000