Shelby is a medium-sized city located in the state of North Carolina. With a population of 21,855 people and 12 associated neighborhoods, Shelby is the 45th largest community in North Carolina.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 9.25% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

As is often the case in a small city, Shelby doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.

The education level of Shelby citizens is a little higher than the average for US cities and towns: 24.43% of adults in Shelby have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Shelby in 2022 was $28,414, which is middle income relative to North Carolina, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $113,656 for a family of four. However, Shelby contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Shelby is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Shelby home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Shelby residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Shelby include English, German, Irish, Scots-Irish, and European.

The most common language spoken in Shelby is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Italian.