Cherokee County vs Shelby County

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

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

Shelby County has the higher population (11,757 vs 11,587 in Cherokee County). Shelby County has the higher median household income ($67,690 vs $64,478 in Cherokee County). Shelby County has the higher median home value ($156,200 vs $145,100 in Cherokee County).

Population, income & housing

	Cherokee County	Shelby County
Population	11,587	11,757
Median age	44.5 yrs	45.1 yrs
Median household income	$64,478	$67,690
Median home value	$145,100	$156,200
Median gross rent	$711	$810
Housing units	5,555	5,429
Homeownership rate	73.3%	75.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.6%	23.3%
Unemployment rate	3.0%	3.3%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Cherokee County	Shelby County
Population	11,343 → 11,587 (+2.2%)	11,606 → 11,757 (+1.3%)
Median household income	$56,550 → $64,478 (+14.0%)	$58,000 → $67,690 (+16.7%)
Median home value	$106,700 → $145,100 (+36.0%)	$121,200 → $156,200 (+28.9%)
Median gross rent	$550 → $711 (+29.3%)	$643 → $810 (+26.0%)

Cherokee County

Population

11,34311,587

Median household income

$56,550$64,478

Median home value

$106,700$145,100

Median gross rent

$550$711

Shelby County

Population

11,60611,757

Median household income

$58,000$67,690

Median home value

$121,200$156,200

Median gross rent

$643$810

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Cherokee County	Shelby County
Under 5	4.9%	5.5%
5 to 17	16.9%	17.3%
18 to 24	6.4%	6.9%
25 to 34	9.9%	9.8%
35 to 44	12.7%	10.3%
45 to 54	9.9%	11.3%
55 to 64	14.9%	15.6%
65 to 74	13.2%	12.2%
75 and over	11.3%	11.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Cherokee County	Shelby County
White (non-Hispanic)	89.7%	92.1%
Black or African American	0.9%	0.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.1%
Asian	0.6%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.2%	0.4%
Two or more races	3.9%	3.2%
Hispanic or Latino	4.8%	3.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Cherokee County	Shelby County
No high school diploma	6.9%	4.7%
High school graduate	39.5%	36.6%
Some college or associate's	32.0%	35.3%
Bachelor's degree	14.3%	16.0%
Graduate or professional degree	7.3%	7.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Cherokee County	Shelby County
Drove alone	80.3%	77.3%
Carpooled	8.4%	5.0%
Public transit	0.7%	0.2%
Walked	2.3%	5.3%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	7.3%	11.5%
Other means	1.0%	0.7%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Cherokee County	Shelby County
1-unit, detached	84.9%	88.5%
1-unit, attached	1.1%	0.9%
2 to 4 units	3.9%	4.8%
5 to 19 units	3.7%	0.6%
20 or more units	4.2%	3.2%
Mobile home & other	2.2%	2.1%

Poverty & households

	Cherokee County	Shelby County
Poverty rate	15.2%	8.5%
Average household size	2.20	2.32
Mean commute (minutes)	18	18
Median year structure built	1956	1946