Noble County vs Shelby County

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

Noble 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.

Noble County has the higher population (47,417 vs 45,104 in Shelby County). Shelby County has the higher median household income ($71,301 vs $70,908 in Noble County). Shelby County has the higher median home value ($188,300 vs $183,400 in Noble County).

Population, income & housing

	Noble County	Shelby County
Population	47,417	45,104
Median age	39.5 yrs	41.2 yrs
Median household income	$70,908	$71,301
Median home value	$183,400	$188,300
Median gross rent	$776	$956
Housing units	20,212	19,576
Homeownership rate	76.2%	73.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	17.8%	19.4%
Unemployment rate	3.1%	4.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Noble County	Shelby County
Population	47,506 → 47,417 (-0.2%)	44,438 → 45,104 (+1.5%)
Median household income	$56,789 → $70,908 (+24.9%)	$60,404 → $71,301 (+18.0%)
Median home value	$125,800 → $183,400 (+45.8%)	$133,200 → $188,300 (+41.4%)
Median gross rent	$712 → $776 (+9.0%)	$801 → $956 (+19.4%)

Noble County

Population

47,50647,417

Median household income

$56,789$70,908

Median home value

$125,800$183,400

Median gross rent

$712$776

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)

	Noble County	Shelby County
Under 5	6.5%	6.0%
5 to 17	17.9%	16.6%
18 to 24	8.2%	7.3%
25 to 34	12.2%	13.2%
35 to 44	11.9%	11.6%
45 to 54	12.7%	12.6%
55 to 64	14.1%	14.8%
65 to 74	10.2%	10.6%
75 and over	6.3%	7.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Noble County	Shelby County
White (non-Hispanic)	85.4%	90.5%
Black or African American	0.3%	1.2%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	0.6%	0.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.1%
Two or more races	2.0%	1.9%
Hispanic or Latino	11.2%	5.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Noble County	Shelby County
No high school diploma	17.4%	9.6%
High school graduate	39.4%	41.3%
Some college or associate's	25.4%	29.6%
Bachelor's degree	11.9%	13.4%
Graduate or professional degree	5.9%	6.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Noble County	Shelby County
Drove alone	76.5%	79.3%
Carpooled	14.9%	8.6%
Public transit	0.2%	0.0%
Walked	1.5%	1.9%
Bicycle	0.5%	0.6%
Worked from home	4.9%	8.5%
Other means	1.5%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Noble County	Shelby County
1-unit, detached	77.6%	78.7%
1-unit, attached	1.8%	2.3%
2 to 4 units	5.4%	5.4%
5 to 19 units	4.7%	6.3%
20 or more units	3.1%	2.4%
Mobile home & other	7.5%	4.9%

Poverty & households

	Noble County	Shelby County
Poverty rate	8.5%	11.5%
Average household size	2.60	2.44
Mean commute (minutes)	25	25
Median year structure built	1975	1971