Best PlacesShelby County, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Shelby County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Shelby County ranks 1,138th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Shelby County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Shelby County
The parts of Shelby County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Louisville
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and it is quieter.
Waddy
More households have young kids and tree cover is thicker.
Shelbyville
Fewer residents vote and fewer adults hold degrees.
Simpsonville
Prices have run up more and more homes sit empty.
Scores across Shelby County run from about the 6th to the 83rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Shelby County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shelby County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 88% of counties
- Household income$88,739 median, better than 86% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 83% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 78% of counties
Where Shelby County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 53 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 12% of counties
- School gradeC−, better than only 20% of counties
- Short commute27.2 minutes each way, better than only 29% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 31% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Shelby County
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shelby County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,739, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Shelby County's effective rate of 0.76%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Shelby County
Shelby County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Shelby County.
Who works in Shelby County, and how
Work in Shelby County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Shelby County
Shelby County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Shelby County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Shelby County growing, and who is moving in?
Shelby County has grown about 11% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Louisville, KY metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Shelby County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Shelby County, month by month
Shelby County sees roughly 53 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 35° | 25° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 89° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 74° | 59° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Shelby County
The nearest airport, Louisville Muhammad Ali International, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 65 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shelby County
Schools across Shelby County average a C−, better than 20% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Simpsonville ElementaryB− · 44% proficient
- Heritage ElementaryC+ · 37% proficient
- Wright ElementaryC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Shelby County East Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Shelby County West Middle SchoolD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Martha Layne Collins High SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Shelby County High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shelby County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shelby County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Shelby County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Shelby County suits
Families
Schools land around the 20th percentile and crime safety beats 74%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 13% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Shelby County
Is Shelby County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shelby County ranks 1,138th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, what local pay buys, and high incomes, and lowest on the weather and car insurance costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shelby County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $319,935. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $88,739 median income, cost of living beats 88% of counties.
Is Shelby County safe?
Yes, Shelby County is safer than 74% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $250 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Shelby County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 46 with lows near 25. That works out to about 53 pleasant days a year, more than 1% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Shelby County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Louisville, Waddy, and Shelbyville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Shelby County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shelby County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shelby County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Shelby County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shelby County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shelby County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shelby County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shelby County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shelby County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.