DeKalb County vs Shelby County

A side-by-side comparison of DeKalb County and Shelby County: population, income, housing, and more.

DeKalb County and Shelby County are counties in Indiana. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Shelby County has the higher population (45,104 vs 43,584 in DeKalb County). Shelby County has the higher median household income ($71,301 vs $70,080 in DeKalb County). Shelby County has the higher median home value ($188,300 vs $177,900 in DeKalb County).

Population, income & housing

	DeKalb County	Shelby County
Population	43,584	45,104
Median age	38.4 yrs	41.2 yrs
Median household income	$70,080	$71,301
Median home value	$177,900	$188,300
Median gross rent	$828	$956
Housing units	18,280	19,576
Homeownership rate	82.3%	73.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.1%	19.4%
Unemployment rate	4.1%	4.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	DeKalb County	Shelby County
Population	42,927 → 43,584 (+1.5%)	44,438 → 45,104 (+1.5%)
Median household income	$56,421 → $70,080 (+24.2%)	$60,404 → $71,301 (+18.0%)
Median home value	$124,300 → $177,900 (+43.1%)	$133,200 → $188,300 (+41.4%)
Median gross rent	$701 → $828 (+18.1%)	$801 → $956 (+19.4%)

DeKalb County

Population

42,92743,584

Median household income

$56,421$70,080

Median home value

$124,300$177,900

Median gross rent

$701$828

Shelby County

Population

44,43845,104

Median household income

$60,404$71,301

Median home value

$133,200$188,300

Median gross rent

$801$956

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	DeKalb County	Shelby County
Under 5	6.5%	6.0%
5 to 17	17.8%	16.6%
18 to 24	7.9%	7.3%
25 to 34	12.6%	13.2%
35 to 44	12.2%	11.6%
45 to 54	12.5%	12.6%
55 to 64	13.6%	14.8%
65 to 74	10.3%	10.6%
75 and over	6.7%	7.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	DeKalb County	Shelby County
White (non-Hispanic)	93.9%	90.5%
Black or African American	0.2%	1.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.5%	0.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.1%
Two or more races	2.2%	1.9%
Hispanic or Latino	2.9%	5.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	DeKalb County	Shelby County
No high school diploma	7.7%	9.6%
High school graduate	42.2%	41.3%
Some college or associate's	29.9%	29.6%
Bachelor's degree	14.1%	13.4%
Graduate or professional degree	6.0%	6.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	DeKalb County	Shelby County
Drove alone	82.8%	79.3%
Carpooled	10.5%	8.6%
Public transit	0.1%	0.0%
Walked	1.0%	1.9%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.6%
Worked from home	4.4%	8.5%
Other means	1.0%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	DeKalb County	Shelby County
1-unit, detached	78.9%	78.7%
1-unit, attached	1.0%	2.3%
2 to 4 units	6.1%	5.4%
5 to 19 units	2.9%	6.3%
20 or more units	3.0%	2.4%
Mobile home & other	8.2%	4.9%

Poverty & households

	DeKalb County	Shelby County
Poverty rate	10.1%	11.5%
Average household size	2.53	2.44
Mean commute (minutes)	21	25
Median year structure built	1975	1971