Jackson County vs Shelby County

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

Jackson 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.

Jackson County has the higher population (46,319 vs 45,104 in Shelby County). Shelby County has the higher median household income ($71,301 vs $70,208 in Jackson County). Shelby County has the higher median home value ($188,300 vs $174,500 in Jackson County).

Population, income & housing

	Jackson County	Shelby County
Population	46,319	45,104
Median age	38.8 yrs	41.2 yrs
Median household income	$70,208	$71,301
Median home value	$174,500	$188,300
Median gross rent	$946	$956
Housing units	19,231	19,576
Homeownership rate	73.5%	73.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.3%	19.4%
Unemployment rate	3.1%	4.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Jackson County	Shelby County
Population	44,025 → 46,319 (+5.2%)	44,438 → 45,104 (+1.5%)
Median household income	$51,250 → $70,208 (+37.0%)	$60,404 → $71,301 (+18.0%)
Median home value	$125,300 → $174,500 (+39.3%)	$133,200 → $188,300 (+41.4%)
Median gross rent	$767 → $946 (+23.3%)	$801 → $956 (+19.4%)

Jackson County

Population

44,02546,319

Median household income

$51,250$70,208

Median home value

$125,300$174,500

Median gross rent

$767$946

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)

	Jackson County	Shelby County
Under 5	6.9%	6.0%
5 to 17	18.2%	16.6%
18 to 24	8.0%	7.3%
25 to 34	12.5%	13.2%
35 to 44	13.5%	11.6%
45 to 54	11.8%	12.6%
55 to 64	13.1%	14.8%
65 to 74	9.2%	10.6%
75 and over	6.8%	7.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Jackson County	Shelby County
White (non-Hispanic)	80.7%	90.5%
Black or African American	1.1%	1.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	2.2%	0.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.1%
Two or more races	1.9%	1.9%
Hispanic or Latino	13.6%	5.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Jackson County	Shelby County
No high school diploma	10.8%	9.6%
High school graduate	39.5%	41.3%
Some college or associate's	29.4%	29.6%
Bachelor's degree	14.0%	13.4%
Graduate or professional degree	6.3%	6.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Jackson County	Shelby County
Drove alone	82.9%	79.3%
Carpooled	8.8%	8.6%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	2.4%	1.9%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.6%
Worked from home	3.8%	8.5%
Other means	2.0%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Jackson County	Shelby County
1-unit, detached	70.7%	78.7%
1-unit, attached	1.4%	2.3%
2 to 4 units	6.2%	5.4%
5 to 19 units	7.2%	6.3%
20 or more units	3.2%	2.4%
Mobile home & other	11.3%	4.9%

Poverty & households

	Jackson County	Shelby County
Poverty rate	11.2%	11.5%
Average household size	2.57	2.44
Mean commute (minutes)	24	25
Median year structure built	1978	1971