Shirley vs Townsend

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

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

Shirley has the higher population (1,256 vs 1,082 in Townsend). Shirley has the higher median home value ($378,700 vs $344,400 in Townsend). Since 2019, Townsend's population has grown faster (-17.4% vs -32.5%).

Population, income & housing

	Shirley	Townsend
Population	1,256	1,082
Median age	44.2 yrs	49.2 yrs
Median household income	—	$56,726
Median home value	$378,700	$344,400
Median gross rent	—	$947
Housing units	583	471
Homeownership rate	66.4%	49.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher	41.5%	29.9%
Unemployment rate	8.1%	2.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Shirley	Townsend
Population	1,861 → 1,256 (-32.5%)	1,310 → 1,082 (-17.4%)
Median household income	$65,507 → $85,119 (+29.9%)	$72,500 → $56,726 (-21.8%)
Median home value	$258,600 → $378,700 (+46.4%)	$234,000 → $344,400 (+47.2%)
Median gross rent	$777 → $927 (+19.3%)	$773 → $947 (+22.5%)

Shirley

Population

1,8611,256

Median household income

$65,507$85,119

Median home value

$258,600$378,700

Median gross rent

$777$927

Townsend

Population

1,3101,082

Median household income

$72,500$56,726

Median home value

$234,000$344,400

Median gross rent

$773$947

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Shirley	Townsend
Under 5	8.4%	4.8%
5 to 17	9.2%	13.6%
18 to 24	4.9%	9.1%
25 to 34	10.4%	10.7%
35 to 44	20.9%	6.0%
45 to 54	6.4%	26.3%
55 to 64	25.3%	11.5%
65 to 74	10.5%	10.4%
75 and over	4.1%	7.6%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Shirley	Townsend
White (non-Hispanic)	88.1%	76.1%
Black or African American	2.1%	7.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	3.5%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	0.0%	5.7%
Hispanic or Latino	9.8%	7.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Shirley	Townsend
No high school diploma	0.0%	12.2%
High school graduate	28.3%	25.1%
Some college or associate's	30.2%	32.7%
Bachelor's degree	27.4%	18.5%
Graduate or professional degree	14.1%	11.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Shirley	Townsend
Drove alone	65.2%	55.9%
Carpooled	7.4%	9.1%
Public transit	1.8%	3.0%
Walked	0.0%	0.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	25.5%	27.6%
Other means	0.0%	4.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Shirley	Townsend
1-unit, detached	64.5%	52.7%
1-unit, attached	1.9%	1.9%
2 to 4 units	0.0%	0.2%
5 to 19 units	33.6%	15.9%
20 or more units	0.0%	29.3%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Shirley	Townsend
Poverty rate	4.2%	15.2%
Average household size	2.15	2.29
Mean commute (minutes)	36	37
Median year structure built	1938	1973