Groton vs Shirley

A side-by-side comparison of Groton and Shirley: population, income, housing, and more.

Groton and Shirley are places in Massachusetts. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Groton has the higher population (1,571 vs 1,256 in Shirley). Groton has the higher median home value ($736,800 vs $378,700 in Shirley). Since 2019, Groton's population has grown faster (+16.8% vs -32.5%).

Population, income & housing

	Groton	Shirley
Population	1,571	1,256
Median age	29.3 yrs	44.2 yrs
Median home value	$736,800	$378,700
Housing units	414	583
Homeownership rate	65.6%	66.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	44.8%	41.5%
Unemployment rate	5.1%	8.1%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Groton	Shirley
Population	1,345 → 1,571 (+16.8%)	1,861 → 1,256 (-32.5%)
Median household income	$65,303 → $121,484 (+86.0%)	$65,507 → $85,119 (+29.9%)
Median home value	$379,700 → $736,800 (+94.0%)	$258,600 → $378,700 (+46.4%)
Median gross rent	$900 → $1,039 (+15.4%)	$777 → $927 (+19.3%)

Groton

Population

1,3451,571

Median household income

$65,303$121,484

Median home value

$379,700$736,800

Median gross rent

$900$1,039

Shirley

Population

1,8611,256

Median household income

$65,507$85,119

Median home value

$258,600$378,700

Median gross rent

$777$927

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Groton	Shirley
Under 5	2.7%	8.4%
5 to 17	19.2%	9.2%
18 to 24	25.1%	4.9%
25 to 34	6.0%	10.4%
35 to 44	7.4%	20.9%
45 to 54	9.2%	6.4%
55 to 64	13.3%	25.3%
65 to 74	12.1%	10.5%
75 and over	5.0%	4.1%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Groton	Shirley
White (non-Hispanic)	81.4%	88.1%
Black or African American	3.6%	2.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	2.7%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	1.7%	0.0%
Two or more races	4.8%	0.0%
Hispanic or Latino	5.7%	9.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Groton	Shirley
No high school diploma	15.4%	0.0%
High school graduate	15.9%	28.3%
Some college or associate's	23.9%	30.2%
Bachelor's degree	24.9%	27.4%
Graduate or professional degree	20.0%	14.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Groton	Shirley
Drove alone	75.2%	65.2%
Carpooled	0.0%	7.4%
Public transit	3.3%	1.8%
Walked	5.2%	0.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	16.4%	25.5%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Groton	Shirley
1-unit, detached	51.4%	64.5%
1-unit, attached	11.1%	1.9%
2 to 4 units	14.3%	0.0%
5 to 19 units	12.1%	33.6%
20 or more units	11.1%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Groton	Shirley
Poverty rate	7.8%	4.2%
Average household size	3.46	2.15
Mean commute (minutes)	33	36
Median year structure built	1938	1938