Boiling Springs vs Shelby

A side-by-side comparison of Boiling Springs and Shelby: population, income, housing, and more.

Boiling Springs and Shelby are places in North Carolina. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Shelby has the higher population (21,868 vs 4,625 in Boiling Springs). Boiling Springs has the higher median household income ($98,796 vs $50,705 in Shelby). Boiling Springs has the higher median home value ($236,800 vs $185,400 in Shelby).

Population, income & housing

	Boiling Springs	Shelby
Population	4,625	21,868
Median age	22.9 yrs	41.2 yrs
Median household income	$98,796	$50,705
Median home value	$236,800	$185,400
Median gross rent	$897	$899
Housing units	1,301	10,804
Homeownership rate	79.1%	59.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	45.6%	26.6%
Unemployment rate	6.4%	3.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Boiling Springs	Shelby
Population	4,565 → 4,625 (+1.3%)	20,007 → 21,868 (+9.3%)
Median household income	$71,532 → $98,796 (+38.1%)	$38,559 → $50,705 (+31.5%)
Median home value	$183,600 → $236,800 (+29.0%)	$119,300 → $185,400 (+55.4%)
Median gross rent	$635 → $897 (+41.3%)	$707 → $899 (+27.2%)

Boiling Springs

Population

4,5654,625

Median household income

$71,532$98,796

Median home value

$183,600$236,800

Median gross rent

$635$897

Shelby

Population

20,00721,868

Median household income

$38,559$50,705

Median home value

$119,300$185,400

Median gross rent

$707$899

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Boiling Springs	Shelby
Under 5	6.5%	5.6%
5 to 17	16.1%	18.1%
18 to 24	28.9%	7.2%
25 to 34	11.0%	12.0%
35 to 44	9.6%	10.8%
45 to 54	10.5%	12.0%
55 to 64	8.3%	12.9%
65 to 74	4.6%	12.8%
75 and over	4.6%	8.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Boiling Springs	Shelby
White (non-Hispanic)	75.2%	52.7%
Black or African American	16.2%	32.3%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.4%
Asian	2.3%	0.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.3%
Some other race	0.0%	0.1%
Two or more races	2.6%	8.6%
Hispanic or Latino	3.8%	4.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Boiling Springs	Shelby
No high school diploma	6.2%	11.0%
High school graduate	19.8%	30.5%
Some college or associate's	28.4%	31.9%
Bachelor's degree	20.1%	15.7%
Graduate or professional degree	25.4%	10.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Boiling Springs	Shelby
Drove alone	78.8%	79.3%
Carpooled	7.4%	9.6%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	4.8%	1.1%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	9.0%	9.7%
Other means	0.0%	0.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Boiling Springs	Shelby
1-unit, detached	89.8%	69.2%
1-unit, attached	2.4%	2.3%
2 to 4 units	6.2%	10.7%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	10.8%
20 or more units	0.0%	4.5%
Mobile home & other	1.6%	2.5%

Poverty & households

	Boiling Springs	Shelby
Poverty rate	2.8%	18.2%
Average household size	3.21	2.34
Mean commute (minutes)	23	22
Median year structure built	1993	1970