Medford vs Shirley

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

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

Shirley has the higher population (27,807 vs 25,681 in Medford). Medford has the higher median household income ($128,631 vs $105,379 in Shirley). Medford has the higher median home value ($444,500 vs $390,300 in Shirley).

Population, income & housing

	Medford	Shirley
Population	25,681	27,807
Median age	39.6 yrs	40.3 yrs
Median household income	$128,631	$105,379
Median home value	$444,500	$390,300
Median gross rent	$2,404	$2,110
Housing units	8,325	8,934
Homeownership rate	90.4%	90.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher	30.7%	16.9%
Unemployment rate	4.0%	7.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Medford	Shirley
Population	24,406 → 25,681 (+5.2%)	28,583 → 27,807 (-2.7%)
Median household income	$95,603 → $128,631 (+34.5%)	$87,242 → $105,379 (+20.8%)
Median home value	$324,800 → $444,500 (+36.9%)	$265,600 → $390,300 (+47.0%)
Median gross rent	$2,057 → $2,404 (+16.9%)	$1,878 → $2,110 (+12.4%)

Medford

Population

24,40625,681

Median household income

$95,603$128,631

Median home value

$324,800$444,500

Median gross rent

$2,057$2,404

Shirley

Population

28,58327,807

Median household income

$87,242$105,379

Median home value

$265,600$390,300

Median gross rent

$1,878$2,110

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Medford	Shirley
Under 5	4.7%	5.5%
5 to 17	17.6%	17.3%
18 to 24	6.8%	8.4%
25 to 34	15.5%	12.8%
35 to 44	12.3%	13.0%
45 to 54	11.0%	13.8%
55 to 64	14.2%	15.7%
65 to 74	9.9%	9.7%
75 and over	8.1%	3.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Medford	Shirley
White (non-Hispanic)	57.0%	57.4%
Black or African American	7.9%	8.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.4%	0.1%
Asian	2.9%	4.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.1%
Two or more races	1.9%	2.1%
Hispanic or Latino	29.4%	27.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Medford	Shirley
No high school diploma	10.4%	12.5%
High school graduate	29.1%	37.4%
Some college or associate's	29.8%	33.2%
Bachelor's degree	19.0%	11.3%
Graduate or professional degree	11.7%	5.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Medford	Shirley
Drove alone	73.0%	78.7%
Carpooled	11.6%	12.2%
Public transit	6.4%	2.7%
Walked	0.1%	0.9%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	8.5%	4.9%
Other means	0.3%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Medford	Shirley
1-unit, detached	79.6%	94.7%
1-unit, attached	9.1%	1.3%
2 to 4 units	5.5%	1.0%
5 to 19 units	3.7%	1.2%
20 or more units	0.6%	1.1%
Mobile home & other	1.4%	0.8%

Poverty & households

	Medford	Shirley
Poverty rate	5.6%	8.0%
Average household size	3.14	3.25
Mean commute (minutes)	34	34
Median year structure built	1975	1975