Nelson County vs Shelby County

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

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

Shelby County has the higher population (48,599 vs 47,102 in Nelson County). Shelby County has the higher median household income ($82,671 vs $67,888 in Nelson County). Shelby County has the higher median home value ($277,500 vs $224,100 in Nelson County).

Population, income & housing

	Nelson County	Shelby County
Population	47,102	48,599
Median age	39.7 yrs	40.9 yrs
Median household income	$67,888	$82,671
Median home value	$224,100	$277,500
Median gross rent	$932	$998
Housing units	20,062	19,216
Homeownership rate	77.3%	74.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher	22.8%	31.0%
Unemployment rate	3.1%	2.8%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Nelson County	Shelby County
Population	45,650 → 47,102 (+3.2%)	47,325 → 48,599 (+2.7%)
Median household income	$60,127 → $67,888 (+12.9%)	$67,056 → $82,671 (+23.3%)
Median home value	$154,700 → $224,100 (+44.9%)	$197,300 → $277,500 (+40.6%)
Median gross rent	$761 → $932 (+22.5%)	$849 → $998 (+17.6%)

Nelson County

Population

45,65047,102

Median household income

$60,127$67,888

Median home value

$154,700$224,100

Median gross rent

$761$932

Shelby County

Population

47,32548,599

Median household income

$67,056$82,671

Median home value

$197,300$277,500

Median gross rent

$849$998

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Nelson County	Shelby County
Under 5	6.0%	5.8%
5 to 17	17.4%	16.5%
18 to 24	7.8%	8.1%
25 to 34	12.9%	11.7%
35 to 44	12.0%	12.9%
45 to 54	13.1%	14.2%
55 to 64	14.0%	13.9%
65 to 74	10.6%	10.6%
75 and over	6.2%	6.3%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Nelson County	Shelby County
White (non-Hispanic)	89.5%	78.1%
Black or African American	5.1%	4.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.1%
Asian	0.5%	1.1%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.4%
Two or more races	2.1%	5.0%
Hispanic or Latino	2.7%	10.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Nelson County	Shelby County
No high school diploma	8.1%	11.8%
High school graduate	36.7%	28.9%
Some college or associate's	32.3%	28.2%
Bachelor's degree	14.2%	19.7%
Graduate or professional degree	8.6%	11.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Nelson County	Shelby County
Drove alone	84.6%	75.3%
Carpooled	6.9%	11.2%
Public transit	0.0%	0.5%
Walked	1.3%	0.7%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.1%
Worked from home	5.4%	11.4%
Other means	1.8%	0.9%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Nelson County	Shelby County
1-unit, detached	80.7%	79.5%
1-unit, attached	3.2%	3.7%
2 to 4 units	4.9%	4.6%
5 to 19 units	4.4%	8.2%
20 or more units	0.3%	1.5%
Mobile home & other	6.5%	2.6%

Poverty & households

	Nelson County	Shelby County
Poverty rate	9.7%	8.6%
Average household size	2.48	2.64
Mean commute (minutes)	26	27
Median year structure built	1990	1992