Rolla vs Shell Valley

A side-by-side comparison of Rolla and Shell Valley: population, income, housing, and more.

Rolla and Shell Valley are places in North Dakota. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Rolla has the higher population (1,164 vs 1,112 in Shell Valley). Rolla has the higher median household income ($52,841 vs $43,281 in Shell Valley). Rolla has the higher median home value ($121,500 vs $55,200 in Shell Valley).

Population, income & housing

	Rolla	Shell Valley
Population	1,164	1,112
Median age	33.9 yrs	27.5 yrs
Median household income	$52,841	$43,281
Median home value	$121,500	$55,200
Median gross rent	$695	$377
Housing units	466	382
Homeownership rate	55.8%	58.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.0%	22.5%
Unemployment rate	7.3%	11.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Rolla	Shell Valley
Population	1,299 → 1,164 (-10.4%)	1,174 → 1,112 (-5.3%)
Median household income	$55,000 → $52,841 (-3.9%)	$35,438 → $43,281 (+22.1%)
Median home value	$99,200 → $121,500 (+22.5%)	$67,300 → $55,200 (-18.0%)
Median gross rent	$602 → $695 (+15.4%)	$294 → $377 (+28.2%)

Rolla

Population

1,2991,164

Median household income

$55,000$52,841

Median home value

$99,200$121,500

Median gross rent

$602$695

Shell Valley

Population

1,1741,112

Median household income

$35,438$43,281

Median home value

$67,300$55,200

Median gross rent

$294$377

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Rolla	Shell Valley
Under 5	9.4%	11.5%
5 to 17	27.4%	23.5%
18 to 24	4.3%	6.3%
25 to 34	11.0%	22.3%
35 to 44	13.7%	9.0%
45 to 54	8.2%	8.5%
55 to 64	8.2%	15.2%
65 to 74	8.9%	2.5%
75 and over	8.8%	1.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Rolla	Shell Valley
White (non-Hispanic)	40.9%	0.3%
Black or African American	0.1%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	44.1%	99.7%
Asian	0.8%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	11.4%	0.0%
Hispanic or Latino	2.7%	0.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Rolla	Shell Valley
No high school diploma	16.0%	36.4%
High school graduate	21.3%	19.6%
Some college or associate's	39.7%	21.4%
Bachelor's degree	14.9%	17.3%
Graduate or professional degree	8.2%	5.2%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Rolla	Shell Valley
Drove alone	78.8%	67.8%
Carpooled	12.2%	29.3%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	5.9%	0.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	0.9%	2.9%
Other means	2.3%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Rolla	Shell Valley
1-unit, detached	61.6%	49.5%
1-unit, attached	1.3%	5.2%
2 to 4 units	12.2%	0.0%
5 to 19 units	6.7%	2.4%
20 or more units	12.7%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	5.6%	42.9%

Poverty & households

	Rolla	Shell Valley
Poverty rate	21.3%	27.9%
Average household size	2.78	3.23
Mean commute (minutes)	10	14
Median year structure built	1974	1987